Wings of Change
by Rashka
Summary: Saving someone is never easy. Worse when the person you're trying to save doesn't want your help. Warning: Possession, black magic, intrigue, and Kaiba. YugixTea, JoeyxMai, SetoxOC if you squint
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. Melody, the plot, and select characters are my own so please don't take them. This has been my baby for eight years. ^^_

_Enjoy!_

**Wings of Change**

**Book One of the Dragonsong Series**

Chapter 1

_He could hear them gaining, feel their feet pounding the earth. A bullet struck the dirt by his feet. Another hit a tree, shooting splinters into his cheek. He winced, slipped. He glanced behind him, panting, his heart in his throat. A twig snapped. He turned back to see another man no older than he._

"_Game over."_

_But he never heard the bullet_.

_October 10-11_

"Mr. Kaiba!"

Seto Kaiba sighed, resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair. Three o' clock and he had a migraine that could drop an elephant. Closing his eyes, he counted to three then looked up. A tiny woman stood ten feet away with her hands on her hips and her glasses resting on the edge of her impertinent little nose.

"Can I help you?" he asked. Nakamura's eyes narrowed.

"Just what were you and Mr. Wheeler talking about that was so much more important than listening?" she asked.

He sighed again, the space behind his eyes aching.

"Wheeler was being an idiot," he said. Then, looking down as if she couldn't hold his attention, he flicked imaginary dust off his jacket. She cleared her throat.

"That doesn't answer my question," she said pointedly.

"Then I was merely pointing out to Wheeler that the stupid movies he's so enthralled with are cheesy, choreographed imitations." Challenging blue eyes flew back up to meet hers. "Better?"

"Ah, I see." She glanced at Wheeler and the blonde rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry 'bout that, Ms. N."

Seto just rolled his eyes. _Pathetic_. One woman raises her voice and the mutt caves without a second thought. Typical. He heard Nakamura's glasses clink as she took them off.

"Mr. Kaiba," she said slowly, "we are here as guests in Sensei Kurosaki's dojo; I will not tolerate this kind of disrespect."

"Then let me leave. I've no need for this acrobatics act. I have work to do."

"So am I to assume that you know all there is about martial arts and their historical correlations?"

Seto leaned back in his chair and lifted his chin. Nakamura just folded her arms.

"Fine. Sensei Kurosaki, would it be too much trouble for Mr. Kaiba to prove this claim?"

The grizzled man of at least two hundred years put his hands inside the sleeves of his gi, his dark eyes attempting to bore a hole through the younger man. Seto barely felt the weight of the man's heavy gaze and stared back.

"I see no reason why not," the old man said. He swept his steady eyes over the rest of the students, noting their not-so-subtle amusement. Excited whispers reached Seto's ears and, out the corner of his eye, he spotted the distinctive sight of crumpled money. Up ahead, Kurosaki pursed his lips then clapped once and the two teenagers that had been helping with the demonstration came to stand next to him. Seto didn't think much of either student. The boy stood a full head and a half shorter than he with a nervous face and blows that couldn't scare a rabbit. The girl, obviously the higher belt, just felt wrong. Something about her made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, almost like she didn't belong here but she was trying anyway. He hated fakes. This wouldn't take long.

"Please follow Nabo to the changing room." The sensei's voice snapped Seto back to the present and he got up to follow the boy across the matted room. At his back, he could hear the Rat Pack whisper amongst themselves.

"Dude, is he off to fight a black belt?" Taylor wondered. Beside the loud, inconsequential brunette, Wheeler shrugged. Tristan Taylor and Joey Wheeler had been yapping at his heels since Battle City, bad pennies that refused to just get lost. He hated them almost as much as he hated the blue-eyed chatterbox sitting next to them.

"Kaiba isn't normally this…provocative…this early," she said. Tea Gardner, a cavity personified, had been preaching at him for years and because of that, somehow felt that she had the right to psychoanalyze him at every given moment. Even when he was within hearing distance.

"Is he?"

Glancing back, Seto saw the big-chested girl turn to the bane of his existence, the shrimp that stole his championship title from him when he was sixteen.

"Only when he doesn't have his morning IV of caffeine," came Yugi's high, child-like voice. Seto had to agree with him, one of the few times, he happily noted, and followed Nabo into another room. It would take at least an IV's worth of gourmet coffee to deal with this class, or, more specifically, the brats within it. He pulled on the gi, wrapping the top tight around his neck, and counted off in his head. This made the fifth class he'd had with those insufferable brats in the last four years, not counting the tournaments during the summer. He wished he could move. Greece was nice this time of year.

"Done?" Nabo asked. Seto narrowed his eyes at the boy's impatience.

"I could break you over my knee with one hand."

"Yeah, whatever." Nabo glanced back into the main room. "Let's see how snotty you are after Mel's through with you."

Seto rolled his eyes. Great. Another one that wouldn't fight his own battles. Tying the belt snugly around his waist, Seto shouldered past the dark-haired boy and walked out onto the mat. The students to the side hushed and his chest swelled a bit. They may not like him but they knew better than to disrespect him.

A feminine voice cleared her throat a few feet away. Another impatient one. He turned his blue eyes to the girl with her gi too loose and her jet-black hair too wild. She bounced on the balls of her feet, watching him with dark amber eyes. He'd never seen eyes that color before. Must be costume contacts.

"You will fight honorably using any style you choose." Kurosaki's voice to his right sounded suddenly deep and commanding. "The match will end when one of you is pinned and concedes defeat."

"Fine," Seto flexed the stiffness out of his hands. "Let's just get this over with."

The girl quit bouncing and placed her hands by her sides.

"Bow," said the old man. They did, the girl bending gracefully in one smooth motion, Seto barely folding himself in a stiff, formal tilt.

"Begin."

For a moment, they both stood still, each studying the other. Her strange, almond-shaped eyes and slender, heart-shaped face labeled her a foreigner. Figures. This girl was probably just another _gaijin_ trying to play Japanese because of some anime show she watched as a little girl. This wouldn't take long at all.

Seto cracked his neck, shaking his hands out, and got into a traditional karate front stance. He rested all of his weight on his left leg, stable, grounded, and brought his fists up. The girl, 'Melody' according to Nabo, rolled her shoulders then mimicked him with a smirk.

"Ten bucks says she nails him," he heard Wheeler whisper. Yugi sweatdropped and hung his head while Taylor snickered into his hand.

"I'll buy that," the brunette said.

"I dunno, guys. Kaiba's pretty good." Gardner wrinkled her nose. "As much as I hate to admit it."

"It'll be a tie," Bakura said. The white-haired Ryou Bakura actually showed up for class today, even acting like his old self instead of that psychopath from Battle City. Seto could count on one hand how many times he'd seen the boy in his seat this semester.

"Just watch," the Brit said. "It'll be a tie. Or a draw. Something'll break them up."

Suddenly the girl crouched and in a flurry of black hair and white cotton, she attacked. Seto dodged, bringing his hand around to knock her sharply in the back.

"All this for a stupid grade," he muttered.

"Aw, you poor baby." Her voice was deeper than he expected and something in her tone sent chills down his spine. He gritted his teeth and fell into Tae Kwon Do. The girl adjusted accordingly and soon, they were dancing back and forth across the mat, switching styles at will. He would punch; she would twist out of the way. He would kick; she would swing off his leg and nail him in the side.

_She's fast_. Maybe she was a real student. No matter, though. He was faster. Seto fell back, thinking, then attacked again with some moves he'd improvised since childhood. Her eyes widened and she barely managed to block as he forced her closer to the wall.

"You might as well concede," he said. "You'll never win."

"Ooh, cocky." Suddenly she grabbed his arm and in some freaky contortionist move, twisted to kick him full force in the chin. Seto hit the mat hard and rolled out of the way, his vision fuzzing for a split second.

"What?" she asked, spreading her arms. "You done already?"

The familiar warmth of adrenaline flooded his body at the challenge. Eyes flashing, he lunged. She dodged but he caught her with a feint, grabbed her, and slammed her into the ground. The class erupted in catcalls and he smirked.

"Concede."

"Not without dinner, babe." The girl twisted around, jamming her forearm into his throat. He hit the mat hard, gagged, and rolled. Thrown twice in two minutes. This woman was going to _die_.

"That," he ground out, "was a very stupid mist—"

Next thing he knew, she had pushed him against the wall with her left leg between his knees and her left arm across his throat.

"What was that, blue eyes?" She raised an eyebrow at him and a ring of gold shone around her eyes. The warmth shifted downwards. He forced himself not to squirm while out the corner of his eye, he saw Wheeler and Taylor accept some money from Gardner and Bakura.

"Get off me," Seto growled. He could feel the muscles under her gi and the pulse in her arm. He flicked his head sharply. "I don't have time for this."

"Concede, then."

"No."

"Give up, dude. I've won."

"Over my dead body."

"Ooookay—" She brought her right hand back.

"Melody!" Kurosaki placed a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. "That will do. Bow and let that be the end of it."

For a moment, the girl held him there. Then, keeping her dark eyes trained on him, she backed up and bowed. Seto, suddenly cold, drew himself to his full height of six one then turned to Nakamura.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

"Yes, that'll do." Nakamura rubbed the bridge of her nose again and motioned to the door with her other hand. "Class dismissed. You all head to the bus. Sensei, thank you again for putting up with us."

As they filed out, Bakura poked Wheeler and Taylor in the sides and held out his hand.

"Told ya it wouldn't finish."

Seto walked off to change, reminding himself that he didn't have time to clean their blood off his clothes.

The next day, it was all around school that Seto Kaiba had been pinned by a girl. The minute he stepped out of his limo, jeers and snickers bombarded him. He ignored them all with his usual stoicism, but behind the carefully constructed image, he yearned to just go on a rampage. It hadn't even been a technical defeat. He hadn't been on the mat and he hadn't conceded. But, of course, that didn't matter. The fact that Kaiba had been "beat" by a _girl_ set the whole of Domino High on fire and the constant whisperings grated on his nerves.

It came to a head in Japanese history, the accursed class that started this nightmare. Hana Nakamura was not an orthodox teacher by any stretch of the imagination and she had assigned both a paper and a field trip in which they had to follow a particular theme through history. Each student then had to write a paper showing how it reflected the times. They were also given a choice on which theme to pick; art, literature, agriculture, fashion, architecture, and, of course, martial arts. Cue the disastrous trip to the local, two-bit dojo.

Seto tried to ignore the amused expression Nakamura gave him as he came in and went straight to his seat at the far window.

"Hey, Kaiba." Yugi said, waving from two seats over. Seto wasn't sure if he was so friendly because he had the patience of a saint or because he was abysmally stupid. Yugi laughed at something Gardner said and Seto decided on the latter.

The last bell rang and with a sharp clap of the teacher, the class settled down.

"_Most_ of you behaved very well at the dojo yesterday and for those who aren't Seto Kaiba, I thank you for that. You may have just saved my job from the munchkin horde."

_What a shame_, Seto thought. He would love to see her face on the news after strangling a toddler to death.

"Oh and we have a new student with us today. I'm sure you all remember, heh, Ms. Melody Solo." Nakamura gave a slight flourish and the raven-haired girl walked in, dressed in the blue miniskirt and pink jacket uniform of Domino High. Seto closed his eyes. How nice. God must hate him more than usual today.

"Hey, Mel, sit by me!"

"No, sit by me!"

"Eeew, don't sit by him. He'll try and grope you."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Hey, this spot's open!"

Solo grinned easily, dark eyes scanning the class. Then her gaze met Seto's and her grin turned rather smug, almost predatory. Seto felt the air catch in his lungs, his torso curling as if someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"Ms. Solo, why don't you sit next to Ms. Gardner? Ms. Gardner, raise your hand, please."

The brunette raised her hand, beckoning Solo to her with a perky smile. Immediately the pressure eased and it was all he could do not to start gasping.

_Must've been the sun_. _Why can't that woman open a window or something? Anyone else would have fainted!_

"All right, class." The teacher clapped again. "Let's begin. Today we'll be starting the Edo period, better known as the Feudal Era, and no, watching _Inuyasha_ will not help on the test. Please turn to page 465."

~~*~~

A few blocks away, as Kaiba cursed however many deities he could think of and Joey reveled in his discomfort, a young man dressed in black leather and about twenty pounds of gold finished up with another card-crazy customer. Atemu Moto had worked at the Turtle Game Shop for the past six months, claiming his spot at the low counter of the narrow card and game store every weekday with a thick book and a dish of chex-mex snacks.

Something clunked behind him and he shot a quick glance at the stairs as an old, short man with spiky grey hair and green overalls came down dragging a duffel bag and a suitcase.

"Thank you, come again," the young man said to the customer's back. "All ready to go, Grandpa?"

"I think so." Solomon Moto, better known as Grandpa or Gramps, set his bags down on the floor and stretched. "I really appreciate this, Pharaoh. Mr. Johnson is a very dear friend of mine and him being named the Curator of the British Museum is the highlight of his career!"

"I understand. I hope you have a great time."

"Thank you, thank you. Now let's see…" He patted his pockets, grey eyes scanning his bags. "Got my clothes, my camera, said goodbye to Yugi last night, said goodbye to you—" Here, he reached over to give the Egyptian a hug. "I think that's everything. You have the keys to the shop?"

"Yes, I have the keys to the shop."

"And there's plenty of money in the account. Oh, there's some emergency money under the box on top of the fridge and the emergency numbers are on the inside of the cabinet door on the far right. I printed out the address and phone number for the hotel and put it on the kitchen counter by the sink. Call me if you need anything."

A horn honked out on the street.

"Your taxi's here," Atemu said.

"And you have Arthur's cell number if something happens?"

"Yes, I have Professor Hawkins' number."

"Good. Now, Pharaoh…" The aged game master pointed his finger at him as he spoke, wagging it with each point. "No magic, no God Cards, no Leviathans, no ancient kings trying to kill you, and for Ra's sake, no getting sucked into any more jewelry!"

"You'll be late for your flight."

"Promise me."

"Yes, I promise, now go. You'll be late; it's rude to keep the airline waiting."

Grandpa chuckled and, after repeating a few more last minute directions, he was on his way to Merry Old England. His friend waved at the retreating taxi then turned to head into the game shop.

_Ateeeeeeemu_…

The Pharaoh spun on his heel.

"Hello? Who's there?"

_Flyyy…Atemuuu…flyyyy_…

A flash of white caught his eye, followed by something small and fluffy rubbing against his calf. He looked down to see a kitten mewing up at him.

"Well, hello there, little one." He scooped the animal into his arms, absently scratching her ears, and cast his violet gaze around the street.

"No. We're fine here. Aren't we, little one?" He kissed the kitten on the top of her head then set her down and went back inside. He still had some time before the after-school rush and Anne McCaffrey beckoned.

~~*~~

When the lunch bell rang, Joey and Tristan bolted, running over almost four or five people in their efforts to get in the front of the lunch line. Tea and Yugi followed at a more sedate pace, with Melody lagging just a little bit behind. Tea hugged her books a little closer to her. She wished Melody would walk in front. Sure, the girl was nice, but for some reason having Melody behind her made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Still, their group had always prided themselves on being friends with everyone so Tea hung back a little and smiled brightly at their new student.

"So, Melody, where are you from?" Tea linked her arm through Melody's and pulled her into the lunch line. "Your Japanese is really good."

"New York," the girl answered, getting her tray. She smiled at Tea, her eyes an odd gold and amber color. The brunette's grin froze a little but she pushed past it and led her to a table in the middle of the lunchroom.

"I was going to school there when we got stationed in Tokyo," Melody continued, "and since they didn't want me to be all city-girl anymore, they sent me here."

"Tak abou' cuchu chock."

Melody blinked once at Joey, half of his tray already in his mouth, then turned to blink at Yugi like a kitten in front of an air vent.

"Was that Japanese?"

The shorter teen set his tray down on the table, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Talk about culture shock."

"Ah. Couldn't catch it around the rice ball. Do you always eat like that?"

"He's a right proper black hole." A soft gentle voice tickled her ears and she smiled warmly at the approaching Brit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name…"

"Ah, pardon me," he said as he too set his tray down. "My name is Ryou Bakura. Pleasure to meet you."

"You, too. Melody Solo."

"Yes, your name is becoming quite famous around here. Where are you—"

_Wham!_ A boy from another table slammed his hands down on the table so hard it made their plates rattle. Melody jumped, her hackles rising, then mentally kicked herself for getting startled.

"Joshie!" Tea cried. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The boy, a slim teen with straight black hair and dark brown eyes just smiled…and started singing.

"_Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes…_"

As one, Joey and Tristan stood with their arms outstretched.

"_Dies irae, dies iya…_"

"Oh _no_!" Yugi groaned and put his head in his hands. At Melody's questioning look, he sighed. "They do this sometimes. The band got them hooked on musicals."

"Ah. Whoa!" Melody quickly held out her hands to support the now very horizontal singer traveling across the table.

"_Here she liiiiies; no one knew her worth, _

_The late, great daughter of Mother Earth. _

_On these nights when we celebrate the birth _

_In that little town of Bethlehem, we raise our glass, you bet your—_"

"Joshie."

Joshie made a kissy face at the tiny game-king and climbed to his feet.

"_To La…Vie… Boheme!_"

"_La Vie Boheme!_" By now, a circle had gathered around their table, clapping in time with the music in their heads. "_La Vie Boheme!_"

Joshie beamed at them all and flicked his hair out of his eyes. Stomping his foot with their claps, he slipped off his jacket to rev up for the next part of the song.

"_To days of inspiration,  
Playing hooky, making something out of nothing,  
The need to express, to communicate,  
To going against the grain,  
Going insane, going mad!_"

His strong baritone voice caught Melody's ears and she found herself tapping her foot with the beat. Beside her, Tea started dancing.

"_To loving tension, no pension,  
To more than one dimension,  
To starving for attention,  
Hating convention, hating pretension,  
Not to mention, of course,  
Hating dear old Mom and Dad,  
To riding your bike midday past the three-piece suits,  
To fruits, to no absolutes,  
To Absolute, to choice,  
To the Village Voice,  
To any passing fad,  
To being an us for once ... instead of a them!!_"

"_La Vie Boheme!"_ the others sang,_ "La Vie Boheme!_"

Tea grabbed the purple-haired Miho and hopped up on the table to sing the next verse.

"_To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries,_

_To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese,_

_To leather, to—_"

"AAAAAAAHH!!!"

The lunchroom fell silent and the students stared at each other in confusion.

"What was that?" Melody whispered, hunching low to the table. Joey shook his head, looking around with a concerned look on his face.

"Where's Ryou?"

Yugi got a distant look in his eyes.

"He's not here…"

"If I could have your attention, please!" The anxious mutterings stilled and Ms. Nakamura's head popped up above the crowd. "Nothing's wrong. One of your classmates just got sick in the bathroom. Everything's all right. Please just finish your lunch and go to class. Thank you." She hopped off the chair and disappeared.

"Everything is _not_ all right," Yugi muttered. "Melody, sorry about running out like this but I need to go check on Ryou."

"Uh…sure." Melody started playing with a lock of her hair, petting it almost compulsively. "See ya later."

The duelist nodded and slipped away through the crowd.

"Sorry 'bout that, Mel," Joey said, watching him go. "Ryou's…had a lot of problems lately."

"Is he sick?"

"Yeah. No. I dunno. He probably just fell and scared some chick into screamin' bloody murder. That happens a lot around here, actually."

"W-well did they take him to the hospital? Is he okay?"

"Yugi'll call us if it's that serious. No worries, Mel." He threw a reassuring wink as he swung his bag over his shoulder. "School doesn't last much longer. Wanna hang out later? There's an arcade not too far from here. Great hotdogs."

"Yeah." Her mouth felt dry. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Cool. See ya then. Later!"

Melody watched his retreating form, feeling the crowd flow past her down the hall as she gripped her hair tighter with each pass. That Bakura kid would be fine. He'd be back at school tomorrow and everything would be fine. Nodding to herself, she slipped into her class, her books clutched tightly to her chest. As she sat down, she tried to forget that that scream hadn't come from a girl.

Two hours later, she made a beeline for the nearest fast food place. She needed a milkshake. Now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_October 11, Kaiba Corp, 3:30 pm._

"Hey, big brother, didja hear? Ryou collapsed today in the boy's bathroom."

A lanky thirteen-year-old with grey eyes and black hair down to his waist sloughed off his jacket and fell into one of the cherry-leather chairs that furnished his brother's office. Before him rested the massive, black enamel desk unit while at his back and to the left stood laminate bookshelves holding barely-used business and law books. On the wall to his right hung the plasma-screen television and a statue of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. There used to be a teal couch in here instead of the chairs but last month, Seto decided it looked too worn and bought brand new chairs while the perfectly usable couch got thrown into the dumpster.

Still, the chairs were pretty squishy. Stretching, Mokuba Kaiba propped his cheek on his hand.

"How do you always get back here before me?" he asked.

"Never mind," Seto said tersely. His hands flew over the keys, the large, black leather office chair looming behind his head like a coffin. "And if those dweebs say it was another case of Ancient Egyptian magic, I'll have them all shot."

"I don't think it was magic," the younger one replied. He leaned forward on his knees and folded his hands against his mouth. "I'm really worried about him, Seto. He gets paler every time I see him and it doesn't look like he's sleeping well. Or eating."

"Then these stunts are his body's way of telling him to wake up and take care of himself. He's none of your concern."

Mokuba opened his mouth to respond but changed his mind and sat back.

"Are you okay, Seto?"

"What?"

"I dunno. Ever since the Grand Championship, you've been…different…"

Seto just kept typing. Mokuba watched his fingers speed over the keys for a full three minutes without a word.

"I'm going home," he said finally. "See ya later?"

"Mmm."

Mokuba shot one last glance at his brother and walked out of the office. Roland sat at the desk out in the lobby and nodded to him.

"Have a good afternoon, sir."

Mokuba smiled. Good old Roland.

"You too," he said, and meant it. "Where's Claire?"

"Copy room, sir."

"Oh. Tell her I said 'hi,' will ya?"

"Yes, sir." The man turned back to the forms on his desk, his sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Mokuba found himself wondering if he'd ever seen Roland without the sunglasses but he quickly gave up the idea. His eyes ached and it was all he could do to walk in a straight line to the elevator. Once inside, he tried to think of what they had at the house to eat. They hadn't had proper leftovers in weeks and he couldn't remember what they had for dinner last night.

_Did I even have dinner last night?_

The elevator paused at the thirteenth floor and the doors opened to reveal a young, sandy-haired man armed with a packet of manila folders. The man's eyes widened.

"Oh, Mr. Kaiba, sir. I'm sorry. I'll take the next one."

"It's fine, dude. Goin' down?"

The young man nodded, still looking hesitant, but stepped on the elevator and hit the button for floor three. Quiet reigned for a full two minutes, during which the man glanced at his hands, the doors, the lights, and flipped through his folders twice. Mokuba grinned.

"What's your name?" Mokuba asked. The other man jumped slightly.

"Scott Varons, sir," he answered.

"Relax, Scott. I'm not going to fire you if you look at me wrong. Unlike some people."

"Oh, no, sir, I never thought that you'd—"

The younger one raised an eyebrow. Scott stared at his folders again.

"It's my first day. I'm still not sure how to act."

"Translation: you don't know how long before you get in trouble for something you didn't realize you did?" Mokuba folded his arms and leaned against the back wall. "Do your job, keep your nose clean, and you'll never have to deal with the Dragon Master."

"Yes, sir."

The elevator dinged and the doors swished open. Scott stepped out onto the fourth floor.

"One more thing," Mokuba called.

"Yes, sir?"

"I don't know what I wanna eat tonight. What sounds good to you?"

"Um…McDonald's?"

"McDonald's…yeah. Thanks."

"Have a good day, sir."

"Yeah, you too." Minutes later, the youngest Kaiba stepped out of the Kaiba Corp building only to have something ram him full tilt.

"Ack! Watch it, you idiot!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

A girl? Mokuba looked up, blushing.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?"

The dark-haired girl picked up his backpack and handed it to him after brushing off the sidewalk dust.

"I'm fine. I am so sorry, munchkin, totally my fault. Here, I'll buy you a milkshake."

Mokuba smiled at her babbling and swung his backpack onto his shoulder.

"I'll settle for your name."

She smiled.

"I'm Melody."

"Melody? You wouldn't be the Melody from Kurosaki's place, would you?"

The girl smiled, ducking her head thought she didn't look all that bashful. Mokuba just laughed and took her hand in both of his.

"This is truly an honor. You are the first woman to ever get under my brother's skin in something other than a card duel."

"Brother?" Melody suddenly looked very small, glancing nervously left and right. "Oh…yeah…sorry about—"

"Don't apologize. I think it's awesome. I was just about to get something to eat, wanna come?"

"Um…sure." The girl tucked some ebony hair behind her ear and fell into step.

"You're shorter than I imagined."

"Gee, thanks."

"No, I just thought you were older. How old are you?"

"Thirteen. Ignore the squeaky voice; I haven't grown into it yet."

"No, it's cute."

"Hnh, you don't lie very well." They reached the McDonald's and Mokuba held the door open for her. "And I kinda expected you to be blonde."

"Really, why?"

"My brother hates blondes. At least three of his main rivals have blonde hair."

"Ah. So I guess he was real fun when he got home last night, huh?"

Mokuba offered a weak grin.

"I heard it this morning at school. I was gonna tease him about it earlier but he's kinda busy."

Melody frowned as the younger teen stepped up to the counter. The kid at the register didn't even ask what he wanted and Mokuba didn't have to ask what it cost. She didn't press the issue but she could smell an interesting story in the air. How often did this kid have to go out for food?

"Guess running a company's harder than it looks," she said.

"Yeah. Anyway, whaddya want? My treat for callin' you an idiot."

"I have money."

"I didn't ask that," he said with a wink. Melody rolled her eyes.

"You're trying too hard. Just get me a chocolate milkshake and I'll ignore that you just tried to flirt with me."

"Fair enough. Oh, I need to call Ryou too."

"You two friends?"

"Yeah. We didn't used to be. We barely said two words to each other for years. Then one day he called me during the KC Grand Championship."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, you're telling me. He said he just felt the need to check on me." A cloud seemed to pass over Mokuba's face and his shoulders drooped a little. "It was a really bad time for us. Seto was floundering, didn't even have time to duel in his own tournament. Anyway, ever since then, we've tried to keep in touch. Phone, email, whatever. He's really a cool guy once you get to know him."

"Seemed really shy when I talked to him."

"He is. But he tries. His dad's out on digs all the time so he hardly ever sees him and his mom and sister died years ago."

"You'd never know just by looking at him."

"No, he's not one to burden other people with his problems. And he's had problems." Something in the way he said that made Melody shift her weight to her back leg. She kicked herself again. Why did she always have to slip in to that stupid fight or flight thing?

"But despite all that," Mokuba went on, "he's got the strongest belief system besides Yugi I've ever seen."

"Speaking of which, one of Yugi's friends, Joey, said something about the arcade. You know him?"

"Oh yeah, Joey and Seto have been at each other's throats since they were fifteen. Wanna head over there after we eat? Or, I eat, rather. I don't really like arcade food beyond just munching."

"Sounds good to me."

Mokuba picked up their order then, shifting it to one hand, held out his other arm for her. She giggled at his attempt at chivalry and followed him to a booth by the window.

"Now," he said, handing her the large cup of chocolaty goodness, "what brings you to the armpit of Japan known as Domino City?"

"A 747," she said around the straw in her mouth, "and a lot of money that wasn't mine. You?"

"Mm, born and raised here. Military?"

"Writing. Gamer?"

"Former. Now, only by association." He took a bite of his burger then slid the french-fries over to her. "I'm more into music now."

"Ooh, _Fall Out Boy_ or _My Chemical Romance_?"

"_Fall Out Boy_, no contest. Although _Greenday_ is right up there too."

"But they're no _Good Charlotte_ and Jared Leto is freakin' hot."

Mokuba dramatically rolled his eyes.

"Every American girl I talk to, all of them say that about him. None of them even listen to _30 Seconds to Mars_ but they all know Jared Leto's hot."

"Schyeah. Not as hot as Jack Sparrow though."

"Nobody's as cool as Jack Sparrow."

"Captain."

"Captain." He stuffed a couple fries in his mouth, almost stabbing his lip with one. "But you said something about writing. What do you write?"

"Fiction, mostly." She turned the straw so it wasn't quite so flat then stuck it back in her mouth. "Short stories. I'm trying to write a novel, but it's a lot harder than I thought."

"It always is. You any good at grammar?"

"Sort of, why?"

"I've got an English paper due Monday and the words aren't flowing right. I mean, I know what I want to say; it just isn't cooperating."

"I can take a look at it, if you want."

"Awesome."

His cell phone rang and Mokuba pulled it out of his jacket.

"Who is it?" Melody asked.

"My brother. Must've done something wrong again." He set the phone down and let it vibrate across the table. She frowned in concern, her eyes closing half-way.

"You okay?"

"Eh, he's just been a little moody lately. It's been a rough few months, what with the Championship and that trip to Egypt…It's been a long year."

"Ah. Well, I have some Midol, if that'll help."

"Slip it in his coffee?"

"Sure."

He smiled and finished up his food.

"Thanks but I think I'll just beat Joey at foosball. He's not as dangerous."

Melody watched him dial Ryou's number but a few seconds later, the boy frowned.

"Huh…he's not picking up."

"It's a hospital, idn't it? Some of them don't allow cell phones and the reception's usually crappy anyway, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm calling his hospital room."

She blinked and tilted her head.

"You know the number by heart? How often does this happen?"

"More now than it did. He's always had…weird spells but they've gotten worse ever since we got back from Egypt. All the nurses know him by name now. Hellooooo…pick up the stupid phone…"

The girl put the straw back in her mouth and left it there.

"Well, guess I'll try again later." Mokuba stuck the phone in his pocket, picked up his bag, and stood up. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and followed him out.

"And don't worry about Ryou," Mokuba said. "He doesn't eat much so he's probably just weak from that and not sleeping or something. It's been a rough year for all of us."

They'd been saying that a lot lately.

"Thanks for coming to see me, Yugi." Ryou watched the King of Games smooth the bed covers with fuzzy brown eyes. "Sorry I scared you."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Yugi grinned in that cute, innocent way of his. "The others'll probably come sometime later."

"Okay."

"What happened? I thought you were getting better."

The white-haired boy rubbed his forehead and stared up at the ceiling.

"I thought so too, but…I don't know. My head just…exploded. I haven't felt like that since before you went to get the Pharaoh's memories back.

Yugi hopped up on the edge of the bed, his brow scrunched in concern.

"Well, did you eat something weird or run into something? Maybe you were just dehydrated."

"I don't think so."

Ryou looked back at Yugi and swallowed. "It's getting worse. I see him now, even when I'm awake."

"Him? Bakura? But the Items were buried."

"I saw him!" A single tear slid down his cheek. "I saw him in the mirror. He had a knife…I screamed…I can't go back to that, Yugi. I don't want to be afraid anymore; I don't want him back!"

Yugi nodded, watching his friend reach up to grasp the small gold cross hanging from his neck.

"You know we'll do anything we can," he said gently. "I can talk to Yami if you want, see if he can help. And I think I still have Isis's number."

"Okay." Ryou wiped his eyes and sniffed. "I appreciate that, thank you."

"Sure. Are you okay here?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay. Well I'm going to head out. See ya later, yeah?" He grabbed his bag and walked out. "Get some rest, Ryou."

"Bye, Yugi. And thanks."

Yugi stuck his hand back in view and waved before disappearing altogether. Ryou smiled weakly and let his head fall back against the pillows.

_I'll be okay. They'll find out what's going on_.

Closing his eyes, he turned over and sighed. His hand never left the cross.

When Yugi got to the arcade, the party was in full swing. Joey and Tristan played foosball at the far end of the arcade while Tea and Mokuba had commandeered the DDR pad next to it, and Melody sat at one of the tables, cheering and throwing popcorn at the two. He smiled and plopped down next to her.

"Glad you could make it, Mel."

"Almost didn't, then I ran over the Munchkin."

"Munchkin?"

She pointed to Mokuba, who gave her a "rock on" sign and stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Yugi said with a laugh. Melody nodded then her eyes grew serious.

"How's your friend? Mokuba tried to call but there wasn't any answer."

"Really? We didn't hear the phone ring…but he's better now. The doctors think he can go home tonight or tomorrow."

"Mmm." Melody juggled a couple pieces of popcorn in her hand. "Hope so. He looked awfully pale."

"He always looks pale. We thought he was an albino at first but his eyes aren't red."

"Hey, Yuge!" Joey 'kicked' the ball into Tristan's goal and threw his hands up into the air. "Whoo! You owe me fries, Tristan."

"Best two out of three, come on!"

"Well, if you wanna get beat again, sure. Oh, Mai just called, Yuge. Said she got a modeling job in Tokyo so she's gonna come visit."

"That's great, Joey! When?"

"Tomorrow night, I think. I say we come here and hang out."

"That's what we always do, dork." Tea smacked him in the back of the head as she stepped off the DDR pad. "Hey, Yugi. Wanna help me get Mel on DDR?"

"What, you and Mokuba couldn't do it?"

"I can," Mokuba said. "Just haven't pulled out the Puppy-Dog Eyes yet."

"You do and this popcorn goes up your nose."

They all laughed and a tall, round man named Charlie came out, balancing a tray full of chili cheese fries, hotdogs, burgers, and drinks. Joey grabbed a hotdog and stuffed half of it in his mouth before the rest of the food even touched the table.

"I love my life," he garbled. The others took their respective orders and held up their drinks.

"Cheers!" Joey yelled. Melody knocked her cup with the others then sat back. This was an odd group. Fun, to be sure, but odd. Yugi, the obvious leader, was short, barely coming up to her waist, but his funky red, black, and blond hair more than made up for it. His big violet eyes gleamed with laughter and innocence, although he did feel a bit tired. She tilted her head, her eyes closing slightly again. No, not tired. Weary. As hard as the middle of senior year was, she got the feeling that it was a welcome relief to whatever happened before. But then, her best friend, Katie Lebeau, did say he was the King of Games. She imagined tournament titles like that could get pretty stressful.

She gnawed on the straw of her drink and turned her attention to Tea. The girl had made sure to take the seat next to Yugi but none of the others seemed too miffed. Her bobbed brown hair and perky blue eyes combined to give her an open, friendly countenance, one that matched her reputation for friendship speeches. Melody hadn't heard one yet but according to Katie, the girl could match lungs with Scott Summers any day.

"Hey, Mel, you gonna eat that?" Joey pointed at her now cold popcorn and she shook her head. "Awesome! I got dibs!"

The girl just laughed. Joey was something else altogether. The teen's shaggy blond hair hung into his mischievous brown eyes and it looked like he'd grown tired of flicking it out of his way. He placed fourth in Battle City, if she remembered correctly. But he didn't seem the card-playing type; he looked more the athletic, street fighter type. And how he managed to have a Brooklyn accent in the middle of Japan was beyond her but somehow he pulled that off too.

On the other side of the table sat Tristan and Mokuba. She wasn't sure what to make of Tristan. The lanky brunette felt a little flighty; Melody had counted him sigh at that Miho girl no less than thirty times during class and he almost ran into a door four times. Beyond that, she didn't pick anything up besides that he acted as Joey's right-hand street fighter.

Mokuba was just cute. At only thirteen, he stood about five-four, only three or so inches shorter than Joey and Tristan, and she could feel an approaching growth spurt on the horizon. His long, black hair hung down his back, barely tamed by a skinny hair band. She figured their hair was about the same length, but his bangs hung roguishly over his left eye. He winked at her again with his right, and she threw a random french-fry at him.

"Hey, that's not very nice."

"Mokuba, it's stuck in your hair!" Tea pointed, laughing behind her hand as the boy started flailing.

"Get it out get it out get it out!"

"Quit spazzing!"

"Then get it out!"

"Uh-oh."

"What uh-oh?!"

"I can't find it."

"Whaddya mean you can't find it?!"

"You flailed too much; you knocked it back into your hair."

"Tea!"

"Hold still. Joey, could ya help here?"

The blonde latched onto Mokuba's wrists and held him down while Tea picked through his hair. Mokuba squinched his eyes shut.

"Come on come on…"

"Oh, for goodness sake, it's a fry, not a snake."

"Hey, that would be pretty cool. Have it wrap around my neck and stuff."

"EEEEWWW!! If you're gonna talk like that, you can get it yourself."

"No, don't leave me like this! My hair's been violated by greasy potato by-products!"

"Hold up. I think I can get it." Melody got up and came around to the back of his chair. She reached into his locks, the boy tensing under her hand, then pulled out the very mangled, very sad excuse for a French fry.

"Ta-da."

Mokuba flipped his hair back and glared.

"Evil person. You aren't cool anymore."

"Psh, I'm always cool, right, Tea?"

"Absolutely."

"Oh sure, the girls always team up." Mokuba reached for the ketchup bottle. "Let's see how you team up to this!"

"Munchkin, put the bottle down. Munchkin!" She bolted. He chased. Panic ensued.

"C'mere, Mel, you need some highlights!"

"You stay away from me or I'll hang you up by your toenails!"

"Aw come on, it's only fair! It won't hurt!"

"I'll stick you in the toilet, you little brat! AAH!!"

Yugi ducked out of the line of fire, catcalling and laughing with the others.

"Good to just hang out, isn't it, Yugi?" Tea said, nudging his arm.

"Yeah." He ducked again and laughed. "Yeah, it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_October 12_

_Click. Click. Click. _

A woman in her early thirties stared out at the city, tapping her ring on the edge of her chair.

"Yes, sir, everything is in order…No, sir. No, I don't foresee any problems."

A languid smile pulled at her lips.

"Yes, sir. I'll make sure of that personally." A slender hand traced a picture frame on her desk as she leaned into the phone. "He'll be putty in my hands."

"Good morning, Mr. Kaiba. How did you sleep?" The man known simply as Taishou, the "General," stood in the middle of the immaculate master bedroom while said master got dressed for the day. From his position, the thin man with graying temples and smartly pressed clothes could see the large bay windows on the far wall, the king-sized bed buried in silver and royal blue pillows, the doors to the green marble bathroom, and a walk-in closet most girls would kill for.

"Same as I always do, Taishou." Seto, stepping out of the closet, pulled on his blue uniform jacket, and started buttoning it. "Do I have any mail?"

"Yes, sir, three requests for public appearances in Paris, LA, and Lima, four letters from news stations that somehow made it here instead of the company, and an invitation to a gala in London."

"Send my regrets to the news stations, put the others on my desk, burn the invitation. What's that?" He motioned to the pink envelope in the butler's other hand.

"A particularly heartfelt letter from a little girl in Spain. Her brother's sick and she wants him to meet you."

"Fanmail's supposed to go to Kaiba Corp. You know that."

"Yes, sir, but I thought you'd like to answer this one personally."

"Really." Seto snatched the letter, his blue eyes shredding it to pieces in seconds. "I'm a businessman, not a miracle-worker. Burn it with the invitation."

"Sir." Taishou took the letter back and slid it to the bottom of the pile. "You've grown increasingly stressed, Mr. Kaiba. Senior-year panic setting in?"

The younger man grabbed his briefcase and swept out of the room. Taishou followed him down the grand staircase to the front door, their dress shoes clacking on the black and white tile floor.

"Please keep ridiculous notions like that to yourself," Seto ordered as he grabbed his coat. "Graduation means nothing more than I get more time to work. Now get rid of those letters and if you ever pull something like that again, I will fire you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir. Have a good day, sir."

Seto slammed the door behind him and rode to school in silence. When he got there, his tall form cut through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. Students on either side whispered, no doubt, still about the dojo, but he ignored them and went straight to his first class.

"Hey, Kaiba."

He nodded to Yugi without looking, and, after clicking on the light, walked to his seat in the back of the room. True, this was where most of the troublemakers sat but they knew better than to annoy him. Besides, that idiot Taylor sat up front so the teacher could watch him.

"Do you always get here this early?"

He looked up to see that Solo girl leaning on the doorframe. His skin immediately began to crawl. Something about this girl…Mokuba would undoubtedly say it was because of some unspoken attraction or unresolved sexual tension. He knew what both of those felt like and this wasn't it. Solo just felt wrong. Maybe it was her eyes or the way she moved. But then, he supposed it didn't really matter. So long as she left him alone.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Hnh, well aren't you Little Ms. Sunshine." She walked over to his desk, her hips making the skirt flip up as her slippered feet made barely a shuffle on the tile floor. "We started out on the wrong foot the other day so…whaddya say we start over?" She held out her hand. "Melody Solo, from New York."

Seto just looked at her.

"Is that supposed to be an apology?"

"It's supposed to be a truce."

"Keep it." He brushed her hand out of the way and opened his briefcase. "Go talk to someone else. I'm sure there's some fool out there who would love for you to flirt with him."

"I was trying to be nice, ya know. You could at least act civil."

"I could but you'd stay longer."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't stutter."

She slammed his briefcase shut and he felt a rush of heat to the back of his neck

"You've got a lot of nerve, you pompous—"

"There isn't an insult in over a hundred languages I haven't heard, Solo. Save your breath and get out."

The bell rang and the glare she gave him could've boiled iron.

"This isn't over. I'll see you in history."

He smirked, watching her hair bounce with every aggravated step.

_I look forward to it._

Five seats away, Tristan sent a hurried text message then hunkered down in his chair. Elsewhere in the school, students began placing bets.

The pool made it up to over 10,000 yen by the time history rolled around, and the class that once buzzed about the fight from the dojo now muttered back and forth about the brewing storm. Yugi could almost taste the fight in the air and grimaced as he came in the classroom.

"So you've heard," Tea said. She motioned to the empty desk next to her. "She's over there by the window."

Yugi leaned around her to see a very focused Melody sitting at the far wall with her legs crossed and her long-nailed fingers tapping a staccato rhythm on the desk. On Yugi's other side, Joey plopped down, grinning like a maniac.

"Man, this is gonna be so cool! All my money's on Mel; how 'bout yours?"

"I didn't bet, Joey, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Kaiba's had a really rough year. You shouldn't be betting on him losing again."

"It's for morale and on top o' dat, he deserves it. Tristan told me what happened word for word and it's a miracle she didn't claw 'em right there."

"Yeah, you told me." Yugi rubbed his eye then shook himself. "Okay, fine. Put me down for ten on Kaiba."

Joey laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Always with the underdog, eh Yuge?"

Yugi smiled back but it faltered when a brooding Kaiba walked into the room.

"Hey there, Kaiba." Melody leaned forward on her desk, propping her chin in her hand. "How are you doin'?"

"What are you doing, Solo?" Kaiba put his briefcase on the desk in front of her. "You sit next to Gardner."

"Not today," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "The teacher lady moved me over here. Said something about how you could help me with my Japanese."

Kaiba glanced towards the front of the class where Ms. Nakamura stood taking roll and the little teacher looked up with a smile. Melody could almost hear the insults sitting behind his teeth. He stood up and Ms. Nakamura raised an eyebrow at him.

"Something the matter, Mr. Kaiba?" she asked.

"Yes, actually. Why is she over here?"

"It's just for today. You can deal."

"But why—"

"Because I said so. Have a seat, Mr. Kaiba."

Gritting his teeth, the teen sat down and forcefully opened his laptop.

"Sorry about that," Melody whispered. "I wanted a seat by the window and Tea's a bit too…peppy right now."

"Just shut up and leave me alone."

"Well fine, be that way." She stuck her tongue out then caught Yugi's attention and rolled her eyes. The boy hit his head on the desk.

"Eyes forward, Mr. Moto."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ms. Nakamura waited for everyone else to quiet down before picking up her beloved, bright green chalk holder and turning to the board. As she spoke, she sketched a few crude maps and next to them, she made two lists of names.

"Today, we'll be discussing the Samurai. Contrary to popular Western belief, they did not fly around on trapeze wires, they couldn't walk on water, and they did not always stick to their code of honor. But they had a level of ideals, a way of life that has left its mark on everything from language, to traditions, to the martial arts styles we saw the other day. I call your attention to the Daimyos, the ruling families of the feudal era—"

Keeping a wary eye on the teacher, Melody leaned forward again, her breath tickling his neck.

"Met your brother yesterday. He's adorable. How could you two possibly have the same parents?"

"Shut up, Solo."

"He reminds me of my little sister. I was teaching her how to hunt when I left."

"Stay away from him!"

"Can't," she said, stretching. "He's asked me to help out with his English paper and I'd hate to break a promise to the kid. He's so cute."

"He's not a puppy." Kaiba turned to look over his shoulder. "And if you hurt him, I'll kill you."

She propped her chin in her hand.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," she crooned.

"No, but you will be." The CEO faced the front just as Ms. Nakamura circled the top name of the second list.

"There were some two hundred daimyo at the beginning of the Edo period," she said. "Westerners typically compare them to the feudal lords of Medieval Europe but whereas feudal lords had almost complete control, oftentimes, daimyo shared their power with the samurai, who were considered 'de facto aristocrats.'"

Melody raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Solo?"

"Is it true that the samurai would commit ritual suicide if they lost a battle?"

"_Seppoku_, yes. The shame of defeat warranted an honorable death." Ms. Nakamura put her hands flat on her desk. "Have you read about it or are you coming from _The Last Samurai_?"

"The movie," Melody admitted bashfully. "I was just wondering if it was a film convention to make the movie more dramatic or if it really happened."

"Whether it was a convention or not, it still happened," Kaiba said. "They had a very strict code and to deviate could bring eternal shame to them and their family."

"Excuse me, Mr. Kaiba, who's teaching this class?"

He sent a quasi-apologetic look at the teacher.

"I just didn't think Ms. Solo should base her idea of history on the Hollywood box office."

"Hollywood's not all ditzs and light bulbs, Kaiba," Melody shot back. "And for them to just kill the guy instead of trying to save him doesn't make sense to me. Why not just take them prisoner or put 'em in medieval rehab or something?"

"Mercy was considered a disgrace to both sides. Better they kill or be killed than live with that. Defeat means death."

"Defeat means death?" Her stomach squirmed at his words. "Are we speaking from personal experience?"

"What business is it of yours?"

"Easy, I was just asking. No need to get defensive."

"I wasn't getting defensive; I was just asking a question."

"So was I! Why are you jumping down my throat about it?"

"I'm not jumping down your throat—"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm—"

"Children!" Ms. Nakamura tried hard to hide her smile. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get on with class." She eyed them both and when neither showed signs of talking further, she nodded. "Okay, then. By the time of the Edo period, there were around two hundred individual territories, or _shogunates_. Most were relatively small and deferred to larger, more powerful _shogun_ for defense."

Melody scribbled a few notes, both of the lesson and a quick story idea for a shogun love story, then straightened her legs. She wasn't exceptionally tall, about five eight, but her legs were long enough to reach under the seat in front of her. Her lips curled into a wicked smile and she tapped her foot against the chair leg. Kaiba didn't move. She knocked again.

"Stop it, Solo," he hissed. The girl kicked the bottom of the seat this time and she could see him lock his jaw. His scent was changing too, becoming more musky, more sweaty as he got angrier and angrier. She kicked again. The scent stung her nose a little but she kind of liked it. She kicked again. There was the distinct sound of a pencil snapping in half and, by the time the bell rang, he'd broken it another four times.

"Don't forget to read chapter thirty-five for tomorrow and come in prepared for a quiz." She waited until the most of the class filed out before calling out, "And Mr. Kaiba."

He paused at the teacher's desk, staring at the door.

"I expect that kind of arguing from a middle-schooler, not the president of an international company."

Kaiba straightened his shoulders and stalked out, leaving only Melody and Ms. Nakamura in the classroom.

"You're playing with fire, Ms. Solo," the teacher said with a sigh.

"I know." Melody flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Idn't it great?"

"Just keep your debates intelligent instead of resorting to a shouting match. This _is_ an AP class."

"No problem."

"And Ms. Solo? Sit next to him tomorrow." Ms. Nakamura allowed herself a small smile. "That way you can see his expression."

"Okay."

Ms. Nakamura watched her leave then sank into her desk chair. Her head flopped back against the headrest.

"Somebody shoot me."

~~*~~

"Hey, this is Joey Wheeler. Not here right now so just leave a message or—Tristan, you nimrod! Gimme back my phone! You—_beeeeep_—"

Mai Valentine chuckled to herself at Joey's voicemail message and headed to the carousal to get her luggage.

"Wheeler, you dork, where are you? It's Mai, by the way. I'm here in Tokyo. I've got a thing tonight but I'll be done in a few hours. Meet ya at the train station. _Ciao_!"

About forty other people had congregated around the luggage ramp and she shoved her way through to the front.

"Gosh, how long does it take to unload a plane?"

"I think they have a little old lady doing it." A tall, dark-haired man in a black sport coat sidled up next to her. Holding out his hand, he said: "I'm Jake."

"Mai," she said, shaking his hand. He smiled warmly at her but his gaze lingered somewhere lower than her face. Mai folded her arms, pulling her jacket closer.

"There's my bag." She grabbed a bright purple suitcase and hefted it onto the floor.

"Later."

The man let his gaze travel down her quickly retreating body. His phone rang.

"Yeah. Oh yeah, everything's fine. Huh? Hey, I'll do things at my own pace. You just tell the boss to go ahead, all right? Yeah, I'll talk to you later."

He hung up with a snap then slipped into the crowd.

~~*~~

Five o'clock. Dinnertime at the hospital. A middle-aged nurse named Akio shuffled into Ryou's room bearing a covered tray of food and a fresh pitcher of water.

"Good evening, dear," she said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

The white-haired teen sat up and crossed his legs.

"Much better. Thank you. What's for dinner tonight?"

"Chicken parmesan, spaghetti with marinara sauce, and garlic bread." Akio took off the lid with a flourish and set it on the rolling tray table.

"Italian night," he said, clapping. "My favorite. Thanks, Ms. Akio."

"No problem, dear. And I just talked to the doctor. He said you can go home in the morning, if everything checks out."

"That's great," he said around a mouthful of noodles.

"Do you have someone who can pick you up?"

He swallowed, opening his mouth to answer, then dropped his fork.

"What is it, dear?"

A white-haired man stood just to the left of the nurse, his arms crossed firmly over his chest.

"Ryou, are you okay?"

The man narrowed eyes that glowed red in the dim, fluorescent light.

"Ryou!"

He sucked in a sharp breath.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" Akio put her hand on his forehead and neck, her brow knit in concern. "Do you want me to call the doctor?"

"No…no, I'm okay. Thanks for dinner."

"No problem. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Akio still looked worried but she stood up.

"Okay then, someone'll check on you before you go to bed."

"Thanks." He took another bite of chicken, grinning. When she shut the door behind her, he spit it back out onto the plate and shoved the tray table away.

_Oh now that's not very nice_.

He put his head in his hands, squeezed his eyes shut.

"Go. Away."

_Who are you talking to?_

"Shut up!" Ryou scrambled out of bed and ran to the bathroom that still reeked of cleaner. He slammed the door shut behind him, locked it, then fell against the sink.

_You can't hide in there, yadunoshi._

"Shut up. You're not real. We got rid of you. You're not real!"

_No?_

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, panting.

_I'm as real as you are, Ryou. You can't escape me._

"I have before. I can do it again."

_How can you run…_

Gaping in horror, Ryou watched his white locks bend upward into horns and his eyes slant into a dangerous glare.

…_from what's inside?_

He clenched the edge of the sink with trembling hands.

"No."

His reflection chuckled, deep, dark, and menacing. His shirt glowed, then, bit by bit, a circle emerged. A circle bearing a pyramid with five points hanging from the edge.

"The ring…"

_Surpriiiiise._

The pendant solidified and soon he felt an all too familiar weight settle against his chest.

"No!" Ryou tried to yank the ring over his head. "NO!"

The ring glowed again and the points turned to burrow deep into his flesh. Ryou clawed at it, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"NO, PLEASE! I'll do anything, please!"

_I know you will, little host_. His reflection smirked back at him. _I know you will_.

Ryou screamed and backed up. He slipped on a towel, hitting his head on the way down. His eyes fluttered, and right before he passed out, he saw a pale form kneeling over him…laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_October 12, 6:00pm_

Atemu clutched his chest, his fork clattering to his plate.

"Yami!" Yugi rushed to his side. "Yami, what is it? What's wrong?"

The pharaoh gasped for breath and sat back in his chair.

"Yami!"

"I'm fine, Yugi." He locked the boy's hand in a firm grip as he tried to steady his racing heart. "You didn't feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Atemu closed his eyes.

"I felt…something…like the Shadow Realm."

"The Shadow Realm." Yugi clenched his fists. "We already beat the Shadow Realm; why can't they just leave us alone?! How many times do we have to save the world before somebody else takes over? I haven't even graduated yet, I—"

"Yugi!" The elder Moto held out his hand. "Calm down, Yugi. I said it was _like_ the Shadow Realm. Darkness comes in many forms but it all has the same root. It just did not feel like actual Shadow Magic."

"Oh."

The phone rang and Yugi went to answer it.

"Hello, Moto residence. Oh hey, Melody. Yeah, we're okay. Oh. You did?" He put his hand over the receiver. "She said she just got this feeling one of us was in trouble."

"A feeling, hmm?" Atemu rubbed his temples, thinking. "Can she come over?"

"Lemme check. Hey, Mel? Can you come over? Yeah, my brother felt something weird too. Okay, you know that main street by the library? The one by Dark Clown, yeah. We're right across the street, Kame Game Shop. Okay, see ya soon."

He hung up the phone then dialed another number. Atemu looked at him.

"I don't want to take any chances," the younger one explained. "I think the others should be here too."

"Good thinking, Aibou. I'll be right back."

Twenty minutes later, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Melody congregated in the upstairs living room. Yugi sat perched on the arm of one of the couches while Tea sat next to him with Melody next to her, and Tristan and Joey claimed the other couch across the room. They left the chair at the end for Atemu, who came back out after they had all arrived, once again calm and composed.

"Oh, Mel, you haven't met my brother, Yami," Yugi said. "Atemu, really, but I call him 'Yami.' Yami, this is Melody Solo, the girl from class I told you about."

Atemu nodded to her.

"Yugi tells me you had a…feeling one of us was hurt," he said. The girl grabbed a lock of her hair and started playing with it.

"Yeah. I get those sometimes. In my gut."

"Mmm." Atemu folded his arms. "Where are you from?"

"New York."

"And this 'gut feeling,' was it limited to just us?"

"Yeah."

He stared at her a moment more then nodded and walked to his chair.

"Thank you all for coming so late," he said, sitting straight with his arms placed on the armrests and his feet solidly on the floor. Melody suddenly felt like she was at court. This Atemu person exuded a regal air, even if he was only a few inches taller than Yugi. His long, straight black hair fell down to his shoulders like a veil, highlighted by the same red and blond streaks as his brother, and his deep magenta eyes seemed to pin them to their seats.

"No problem, Temu," Joey said. "We weren't really doing anything 'sides homework anyway. What's up?"

"A short while ago, I felt a great surge of…energy, for lack of a better word. I am…reluctant to say it, but I think we could be in for another Egypt."

Tristan, Tea, and Joey groaned loudly in protest. Atemu held up his hand.

"I know how you feel and I'm not any more thrilled than you are. Especially after we've had such a hard year—"

Again with the 'hard year.'

"—but it hit me hard enough I couldn't breathe regularly for almost fifteen minutes."

"That's the way it was for me," Melody said. "I heard someone scream then it was like somebody was sitting on my chest. I almost blacked out."

Atemu turned those magenta eyes on her and she shivered as something tingled in the back of her mind. She smacked it away. It came back stronger and something gripped her neck. The girl gritted her teeth.

"Get out of my head, Atemu."

"Wait…you felt that?" Yugi slowly stood up.

"Yes, I felt that! And it's an invasion of privacy to probe somebody without their permission! Not to mention rude."

"Forgive me, Melody. I didn't mean to intrude—"

"Yes, you did or you wouldn't have done it!"

"We've had more than our share of betrayals. I had to make sure we could trust you."

"Well, can you?"

"I don't know yet. But the fact that you could even distinguish a psychic probe unnerves me."

"Come on, Atemu," Tea urged. "She's our friend."

"Namu was your friend and he turned out to be Marik in disguise. I needn't remind you that he tried to kill us."

"Yami." Yugi shot his brother a look while Joey and Tea exchanged skittish glances.

"It was a precaution, Yugi," Atemu said. "I couldn't just dismiss the fact that she felt the same thing I did." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You don't feel evil. Forgive me, Melody. I was merely trying to protect my friends."

Melody glanced down at the carpet. He was Alpha here. Not her.

_Pack law, girly. Don't step in it right off the bat_.

"I understand," she said at last. "But I'd appreciate you treating me like an adult next time."

"Of course. Has anyone tried to contact Ryou?" Atemu looked at Tea, the only one to consistently carry a phone. The brunette shook her head as she took out her cell.

"I have the number in here. Just a sec."

"You think Ryou might be in trouble too?" Tristan asked.

"Shoot! I completely forgot!" Yugi smacked himself in the forehead. "I meant to tell you earlier, Yami, but his nightmares are getting worse and he can see _him_ during the day now."

"Him? Bakura?"

At the name 'Bakura,' Melody's stomach clenched. The others sat up straighter in their seats, all leaning towards Yugi.

"That's what he saw in the bathroom at school," he said. "He slipped and hit his head when he tried to get away."

"No wonder the guy's so pale," Tristan said, rubbing his eyes. "Bakura would give anybody nightmares."

"I can't get through, guys." Tea hung up then dialed the hospital again. She shook her head. "Nobody's picking up at the front desk or his room."

"Maybe we should go check on him. I think visiting hours are still open."

"No, wait," Tristan said, "don't you have to go pick up Mai?"

"No, there was some kind of hang up at the agency. Said she'll have to stay another day or two but she'll call when she gets in."

"It's settled then," Atemu said, standing. "I'll drive as I'm the only one with a car. And if it is Bakura, I'm probably the only one who can do anything. Who's coming with me?"

"We'll all go," Yugi said. They all stood and headed downstairs.

"Now wait a minute," Melody protested. "What's going on? Who's this Bakura you guys keep babbling about?"

"Tea, keep trying the hospital." Atemu jingled his keys and grabbed his jacket from behind the store counter. "I'll explain on the way."

"So, you're saying these Millennium Items caused all the stuff during Battle City."

"And the stuff with Atlantis," Yugi added.

"Atlantis?" Melody asked, frowning.

"Yeah, you know all those monsters that showed up before the Championship at Kaiba Land?"

"The news said it was just Kaiba Corp holograms going haywire."

"They weren't holograms." Yugi glanced over at Tea, who shook her head and dialed again. "They were real."

"That's impossible, Yugi, monsters don't just show up on the physical plane. Things stay on our plane or they stay in the astral plane; they can't just grow bodies and cross over."

"Believe it, Mel." Joey pulled his shirt back, revealing a long, thin scar running diagonally across his collarbone. "Got this from the Leviathon. Even Kaiba got pulled into it but you'd never know it from that denial act he's got goin'."

"Kaiba? What about Mokuba? Do you think he's okay?"

"Do you feel otherwise?" Atemu asked. He changed lanes then slowed to a stop at a red light. Melody closed her eyes halfway.

"No. No, I don't think so."

"Neither do I." The light turned green and he hit the gas. "The problem is that when we were in Egypt a few months ago, the Millennium Items were supposed to be lost to the sands."

"Could it be something else then?"

"It's possible but for so many odd things to focus on Ryou, it's hard to believe it's something else. Bakura is notorious for not staying dead. Any luck, Tea?"

"Not even on the hospital ph—"

"Yami, look out!" Yugi yelled. Atemu slammed on the brakes just as another car pulled out, crossing the street.

"Idiot!" Joey yelled, then he did a double take. "Dude, that chick's eyes were red!"

"It's night time, Joey," Tristan assured. "Probably just the streetlamps."

"Yeah? Then why is she following us?"

Everyone except Atemu turned to look out the back window. The small white car rode their bumper, black beads swinging wildly from the mirror. A pretty redheaded woman sat at the wheel. She locked gazes with Yugi and her eyes flashed a sickly crimson.

"Floor it, Yami!"

Left, right, straight, right, another right. The woman tailed them so close they could hear the clunk of their cars tapping.

"Slow down," Yugi screamed. "You'll miss the parking lot!"

"You just said speed up!"

"I know what I said! Slow down!"

"I can't; she'll hit us!" Nevertheless, Atemu tried to slow enough to turn but the woman sped up, hitting the bumper again. He spat something in Egyptian.

"I'll try and go around. Tea?"

"No."

He muttered something else and pulled back into the highway. Behind them, the woman followed, nicking the corner.

"If I slow down again, she'll drive right over the car."

"Turn here!" Melody pointed to an upcoming intersection.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, turn here!"

Atemu yanked the wheel to the right, the tires barely keeping the pavement. Tea screamed, Joey and Tristan swore, and Melody stared hard at the road.

"There's a side road up here. Turn left."

Another turn, another set of thumps from the flying teens. Tires screeched behind them.

"Dude, she's ramming us!" Joey flicked the woman off. She didn't even blink.

_Wham! _

"Ra, I'm so tired of this!" Yugi yelled. Atemu made another turn, knocking Melody into the window.

_Wham!_

"This is normal for you guys, right?" she asked.

_Wham!_

"Unfortunately, yes," Atemu said.

"Well that makes my job a lot easier then." Reaching up, Melody slid open the sunroof.

"Melody, what are you doing?!"

"Trust me!" She climbed up and knelt on the counsel, half her body hanging out of the top.

"Melody?"

"Keep it steady, Temu!" She raised her hands. The woman's car lurched, her brakes screeched. Melody weaved.

"Hang on," he called. "We're almost back to the hospital."

Suddenly Melody cried out and slipped back into the car, smacking her head on the way down.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked. Holding her head, she pointed to the woman, who was now fishtailing into the trees.

"Just get to the hospital. I'm fine."

They drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. When they pulled into the parking lot, they all piled out and Atemu hurried around to help Melody.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Atemu gently checked the back of her head.

"So you are psychic."

"I—"

"Not now!" Yugi ran to the entrance as fast as his short legs could carry him. "That woman tried to keep us away for a reason!"

"We'll talk later," Atemu muttered. Melody nodded and followed them up to Ryou's room where a nurse stood over the bed.

"How is he?" Tea asked.

"Stable." The nurse checked Ryou's pulse and wrote it down on her clipboard. "And you are?"

"We're his friends." Atemu hurried to the bed and lifted the boy's eyelids. Ryou's eyes were a muddy brown, clouded and unfocused. "How long has he been unconscious?"

"Not long. Another nurse had just brought him his dinner. She said he was acting strange."

"Has he said anything?"

"He's unconscious."

Atemu sent the nurse a look full of barely controlled annoyance.

"People can talk in their sleep. Has he said anything?"

"No." She glanced at her watch. "The doctor should be here in a few minutes. Call the desk if you need anything."

"Thank you."

The nurse walked out and Yugi shut the door behind her.

"We're too late," he said. "That woman stalled us just enough we couldn't help."

"Yes." Atemu whispered softly to the British boy in Arabic, brushing Ryou's bangs out of his face.

"Do you think it really was Bakura?" Tea asked.

"It can't be anyone else," he replied. "The feelings Melody and I had, that woman in the white car, and now Ryou passing out after telling Yugi about his visions. Bakura has always been powerful but it seems now he has extended his reach."

"Hey guys, check this out." Joey walked to the side table and picked up Ryou's cross necklace, charred completely black. Yugi took the necklace with a shudder.

"He was wearing this when I left."

Melody edged behind Atemu.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It smells…wrong…Something smells wrong."

"What's that on his chest?" Tea reached over and pulled his hospital gown back.

There on the pale boy's chest rested five white bandages in a circular pattern. Blood still oozed under the gauze. Above them, a burn in the shape of a cross adorned his collar bone and it bled into a ligature mark, as if someone had forcibly wrenched the chain off his neck.

"So it's not the ring," Yugi said, relieved. "It didn't come back."

"I almost wish it had. At least the ring is tangible." Atemu sighed, straightening up, and ran a hand through his hair. "I know how to fight the Millennium Items. I even know something of Atlantian magic but I don't sense either here. And these wounds…"

"So he found another way to come back," Tristan said. "Healthy teenagers don't just pass out and for him to slip and hit his head twice in two days can't be a coincidence. He's clumsy but not like that."

"Yes," Atemu agreed. "I would not put it past Bakura to link himself directly to Ryou instead of merely using the ring as a conduit."

"Somebody should stay with him tomorrow," Tea said, her blue eyes locked on Ryou's pale form. "This only happens when he's by himself."

"I'll stay." Atemu pulled the edges of Ryou's bandages up. He winced. The cuts, though shallow, were edged with black. "Cauterized. Whatever Bakura wants, he needs Ryou alive. Yugi, do you still have your key to the Game Shop?"

"Always. You just gonna close for the day?"

"We can afford it."

"Can anyone watch it for us?"

"You all have school, Tea has dance, and Joey has to go pick up Mai tomorrow."

"No," Joey said, "remember, the hang up? It's the day after."

"Oh. Well, in any case, it's all right. It won't be for too long. One of us can go back after school lets out. And as long as we're keeping everyone in the loop, I'd like one of you to talk to Kaiba and Mokuba."

"Not me!" Tristan and Joey called at the same time. Tea and Yugi looked at each other then at Melody.

"Nuh-uh, I spent all day kicking his chair."

"Fine," Yugi said. "Fine, I'll talk to Kaiba. He probably won't believe me anyway but it's worth a shot. He was involved in this before so there's a chance he might've felt something."

"I'll talk to Mokuba, then." Melody pulled her jacket closer and reached into a pocket for a scrunchie. "I'm supposed to meet him tomorrow afternoon to help with an English paper."

"All right, that's enough visiting for one night." A man in a white lab coat swept in armed with a clipboard and a stethoscope. "Mr. Bakura needs his rest."

"He's unconscious; he's been 'restin' the whole time we been here!"

"Hush, Joey." Atemu sent him a warning look. "Doctor, I'd like to come back in the morning."

"Fine but that's in the morning. Out." He made shooing motions with the clipboard and the group filed out into the hall.

"So now what?" Joey stretched and, stuffing his hands in his pockets, fell against the wall. "I dunno about you guys but I'm still shook up from that car ride."

"Yeah, that was pretty intense, Mel." Tristan flung his arm around her shoulders. "What exactly did you do?"

She carefully ducked under his arm and hitched a thumb at the elevator.

"It's probably better if we talked in the car."

"We'll talk in the waiting room." Atemu walked past them all to the small, enclosed waiting room at the end of the hall. He waited for them to enter then shut the door.

"Should I be concerned that nobody else is in here?" Melody asked.

"Never mind that. Who are you, really?"

The temperature in the room seemed to dip as she looked at the older Moto.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because at the moment I don't know if you can be trusted and I will not have any more of my friends hurt because some upstart thinks she can take over the world. Now answer me."

The foreign girl glared, hackles raised.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Then for Ra's sake, make this easier for us and answer. Your being difficult does not help anyone."

The two stared at each other for a moment then Melody clenched her fists and sighed.

"Okay," she said, glancing down. "I was sent to Japan to investigate a…psionic disturbance. I thought it centered on you, Yugi. Then I met Atemu and I thought it centered on him."

"And?"

"It doesn't. You're powerful, Atemu, but I can't sense anything bad out of you." She grinned. "Even if you aren't telling me the whole truth about those Millennium Thingies."

"We don't know you." He came to stand in front of her, his arms folded, his eyes hard as flint. "Who sent you?"

"I can't say."

"Melody." Tea sat next to her on the faded blue couch and took her hand. "You have nothing to be afraid of. We won't hurt you or anything but we need to know if we can trust you. We need all the help we can get if this is what we think it is."

"What do you think it is?"

"Who sent you?" Atemu repeated. Melody studied them all, feeling them out. At last, she took a deep breath.

"Ororo Monroe-Howlett. You don't know her but she's been following you guys for a while now."

"Why?"

"She takes special interest in preternatural activities connected to Africa. She told me you guys usually handled things on your own but this disturbance wasn't Egyptian, at least, not completely."

"What then?"

"I don't know. Psionic, for sure. Ororo said it focused somewhere in this area and she wanted me to find out what it was."

"Monroe, you said?" Yugi said slowly. "I've heard that name before. She's a…teacher?"

"Sort of."

"I didn't sense any magic from you," Atemu continued. "What did you do to the car?"

"Slowed it down. But…she fought back somehow. Or, whoever was controlling her."

"Yes, it didn't seem to come _from_ her…How did you slow it down?"

Melody hesitated.

"How, Melody?"

The girl bit her lip and looked down at her hands.

"Do you promise not to tell?"

Tea took one of her hands and squeezed it, leaning on the girl's shoulder.

"We won't tell if you don't."

She hesitated again then closed her eyes.

"I'm a mutant. That's how I could sense the probe and slow down the car. Ororo…strongly suggested I not tell anyone." There was an odd emphasis on "strongly."

"Why?" Tea wondered.

"It's dangerous." Atemu sat down on the other side of Melody. "Mutants are still very controversial, even twenty years after the Civil War in the United States."

"Really?"

He shot Joey a look.

"Am I the only one that watches the news?"

No answer. Atemu sweatdropped.

"Oy."

"But you can't tell anyone," Melody insisted. "I figured I wouldn't be able to hide it for very long if I was going to help but you can't tell anybody, please. I'm registered and everything but the FOH are still so prevalent—"

"We won't, dear heart," the Egyptian said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate you telling us. At least now I know why it's been pulling tongues to get you to answer."

"_Teeth_, Yami," Yugi corrected with a grin. "Pulling _teeth_."

"That's what I said. But for future reference, it would have been better if you knew how we felt about mutants before telling us. We won't hurt you, but there are others who might. I suggest you stick with Ms. Howlett's advice until we know what's happening."

She nodded, chastened, and he continued.

"Do you have any questions for us?"

"Yeah, actually." She tilted her head at the dark-haired man. "Why do you feel so old?"

"I do not!"

The others couldn't hide their sniggers at Atemu's indignant expression and Melody grinned.

"Okay fine, _ancient_," she amended. "It's in your eyes. I can tell. Something about Ryou feels the same way."

Atemu looked at Yugi, then Tea, Joey, and Tristan.

"Well…since I can't hide forever either…I am ancient." He folded his hands and stared at the carpet. "I used to be an Egyptian Pharaoh and that's probably why your Ms. Howlett takes such an interest in us. I was locked in the Millennium Puzzle until Yugi completed it, then I took…joint-custody, as it were, of his body."

"Possession?"

"In a way. At first, I would take control without him knowing. I was Pharaoh; I still had the mentality of doing anything I wanted regardless of what people thought. Then, as I got to know Yugi and the others, we began to work together. "

"Wait, were you still in Yugi's body during Battle City?"

"Yes."

"I knew it! Your voices would change! I don't know if anyone noticed it but it always bothered me when Katie made me watch the duels."

Yugi and Atemu shared a look.

"It's amazing someone else didn't pick up on it," the younger one said. "I learned a lot from Yami. I used to be really timid and stuff but…" He gave his other a warm smile. "I actually have a backbone now."

"Okay, so why aren't you in the Puzzle now, Atemu?"

"One of the…side effects of being in the Puzzle was that Atemu lost his memory," Tea picked up. "After Battle City and the deal with Atlantis, we went to Egypt so he could get it back with those God Cards."

Melody frowned slightly.

"The big red dragon thing with two mouths, the big blue thing with the big shoulders and the big gold griffin thing," Joey supplied.

"Ah okay, go on."

"Well there's not much to tell after that." Atemu spread his hands in the closest thing he'd get to a shrug. "I retrieved my memory and my name, and Yugi and I were forced to duel. If he won, I would pass on to the Afterlife. If I won, I got to stay in his body."

"You won."

"It was a tie," Yugi said. "Now we just say he was a brother that had been in Egypt for a while."

"So what about Bakura?"

"Well, Ryou's had a lot of black outs lately—"

"He's sick, been a rough year, I get it. The kid's got something wrong with him that won't go away."

"You make it sound like cancer," Tea said. Melody's face went blank.

"Bakura."

"Bakura's always been the bad guy," Tristan said, leaning back into the couch. A bar dug into his back and he scowled at it before leaning forward again. "No matter what happened, he always managed to take over Ryou's body and try to do his own thing."

"He was a thief in my day." Atemu's eyes darkened at the memories. "A tomb robber trapped the same way I was. He's been trying to get the Millennium Items ever since."

"Why?"

"Power. Revenge. He blamed my father for destroying his village to make the Millennium Items and then later decided to gather all seven of them and…take over the world."

Melody rubbed her face with a sigh.

"They always try to take over the world. And this Bakura guy is the one that's been messing with the kid and freakin' him out."

"Yes."

"Okay." She stood up and clapped her hands. "Well, your story matches with the few details Ororo told me. None of you feel yucky and if you can keep all that a secret, my being a mutant shouldn't be much of a problem." She bowed with a Jack Sparrow flourish. "I am at your service, Old Man. Just tell me how I can help."

An hour later, the group drove back to the game shop in silence, although every passing car made at least one of them jump. No crazy women in white cars attacked them though and they all went home, worried but too tired to do anything right now. Yugi trumped up the steps to his room, yawning, and threw his jacket on the bed.

"Hey, Yami?"

The Pharaoh paused just outside the door.

"We'll be fine, Yugi. We've been through this before and have always come out on top. We can handle anything so long as we stand together."

It was an old, familiar speech, spoken at almost every catastrophe they'd ever encountered, but the message still made the teen smile.

"Thanks, Yami. Good night."

"Good night, Yugi. And don't worry. We'll be able to rest soon." Atemu smiled warmly at his charge then turned and went to his room across the hall.

_Lord Osiris, keeper of the royal line_, he prayed. _Please don't make me out to be a liar. Protect my family. Protect these children._ He walked over to his window and pulled back the curtain, a small shaft of moonlight falling across his eyes. _Please let it end soon_.

Behind him, two red eyes glowed out from the shadows. Too bad Osiris couldn't hear him.

Across the city, a slim woman with light brown hair in sweatpants and a t-shirt pulled out of the parking lot of the _Domino Chronicle._ She'd run late again but when weird stuff happened, people wanted to hear it, and her boss insisted everything be checked at least twelve times. She supposed it was a good thing he was so thorough but this time of night always felt strange to her. Her son called it 'creepy quiet' and the fog certainly didn't help.

_Oh well_, she thought. She had a family to get home to, laundry to do, and breakfast to make in the morning.

As she merged onto the highway, a small white car pulled up behind her. Two hours later, Tristan woke to a call from the police. His sister, Theresa, had wrapped her Prius around a light pole and was being airlifted to Tokyo General Hospital. The doctors were not hopeful.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_October 13, 5:00am_

Sleep was overrated. People have been known to go for days without sleep and they could function just fine. Medical students did it on a regular basis. Granted, Vault drinks and Mountain Dew bottles were their best friends but that was beside the point. It could be done; it was possible. And not only had Seto Kaiba mastered the All-Nighter as a champion duelist and a successful businessman, he had perfected it into an art form.

But none of that prevented the yawn that stretched his jaws or the weary hand that rubbed at his still crusty eyes.

"Mr. Kaiba?" The sixty-three-year-old butler handed his master a steaming cup of coffee. Seto clung to the mug as if his life depended on it.

"Are you well, sir?" Taishou asked. Seto sank into the chair behind his black, home office desk and pulled out the sliding tray bearing his keyboard.

"Quit asking me that. I'm fine."

"Of course, sir."

"Any mail?"

"Just the invitation, sir."

"What invitation?"

"The invitation you asked me to burn."

"Uh-huh." Tired blue eyes looked up at him. "I take it you didn't."

Reaching into his vest, Taishou allowed himself a small grin.

"Here you are, sir."

"I told you to get rid of it," Seto said. Nonetheless, he took out his silver Blue Eyes White Dragon letter opener and slit open the cream-colored envelope.

"Yes, sir," Taishou admitted, "but I thought sending ashes as an RSVP would seem a bit gauche, don't you agree?"

"Why on Earth did I have to hire a morning person?"

"Ours not to question why. Who is it from?"

"The seal's been opened with steam, Taishou. You tell me." He sipped at his coffee, almost relishing the burn it gave his throat. "I hate these things but I can't afford not to show up. We need the connections. Does Mokuba know?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Tell him and make the necessary arrangements. We'll leave next Thursday. That should give us enough time to be ready by Saturday." He filled out the RSVP card and handed it to Taishou. "Mail that."

"It says 'and guest,' sir."

"That's why I'm taking Mokuba."

"With all due respect, sir, I think they were hoping for someone a bit more…feminine."

"What, Mokuba's hair isn't long enough?"

Taishou watched him write feverishly on some kind of form.

"Sir."

"What?"

"I think it would be better if you took someone else. A young lady from school, perhaps?"

"Those money-grubbing whores, are you out of your mind?"

"I merely thought—"

"Never mind your 'merely thoughts.' Mokuba's always gone with me and if he won't go, I can hire someone or better yet, not worry about it. I'd rather go alone anyway. Maybe that's for the best."

"Mr. Kaiba…"

"That'll be all, Taishou."

The old man opened his mouth, then closed it and nodded.

"Yes, sir. Have a good day at school, sir. Oh! I nearly forgot." He turned mid-way through the door. "Mr. Mokuba is having a friend over after school to help with an English paper."

"Whatever. Just make sure he _gets_ to school on time."

"Yes, sir."

Two hours later, Seto tapped the forms straight on the desk and slipped them into his briefcase. Sighing, he rested his forehead on the lid and closed his eyes. He didn't think he missed anything. He went over the list one more time: requisition forms, accountant reports, loyalty oaths for new employees, marketing propositions, tech schematics… Roland would give him the daily reports when he got to the office this afternoon and Claire handled all the faxes and emails.

The CEO clenched his teeth. Things would be so much easier if he didn't have to go to school, and he really didn't need that stupid party. But like he told Taishou earlier, he could use the connections. People didn't trust businessmen they didn't see.

Quiet beeping intruded on his thoughts, and he sighed again, turning off his watch.

"Time to go." Shutting his briefcase, Seto stood up and went down to his limo. When he got to school, most students were already inside finding their classes. Most, that is, except a certain wild-haired teenager standing on the entrance steps.

"Kaiba! Are you okay? You look awful."

Seto bit back a wince.

"What do you want, Yugi?"

Yugi fell into step beside him but his short legs barely kept up.

"Did you see or hear anything weird last night?"

"No."

"Yami felt something last night and we think Ryou was attacked."

"That's nice."

"Are you and Mokuba okay? Nothing happened?"

"No."

"Well, Ryou had all these cuts on him like from the ring and Yami said it felt like some kind of Shadow—"

"Yugi!" Seto whirled to shoot the shorter duelist a withering glare. "I don't want to hear it. I'm sorry that Ryou and Atemu are sick but that isn't my problem."

"But it could be! They weren't the only one who sensed things either and we would've called you last night but we nearly got run down by some crazy chick."

"Well, that's too bad. Can I go now?"

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut.

"I don't like this either," he said, pulling his hair. "I'd love for a bad test grade to be the worst thing I have to worry about but if something's going on, we need to deal with it now before more people get hurt."

"Good luck with that."

"Kaiba, I'm serious!"

"What do you want from me, Yugi?" Seto asked, spreading his arms slightly. "I'm sorry your friends are hurt and I appreciate the warning, but I don't want anything else to do with the Millennium Items or magic or any other supernatural spook you can think up. Please, just…leave me alone."

Kaiba disappeared into his first class, leaving a disappointed Yugi in the hallway. The King of Games stared at the door a few seconds more then hurried to his class before the bell rang. Joey waved at him from his desk on the far left and Yugi claimed the seat next to him.

"How'd it go?" the blonde asked. Yugi shrugged.

"He asked me to leave him alone. Nothing happened, as far as I can tell, but I doubt he'd admit it even if it did."

"Eh, that's Kaiba for ya."

"Yeah."

"And Mel's gonna talk to Mokuba this afternoon. We warned 'em. Guess that's all we can do."

"About Melody…" Yugi toyed with his pencil as he spoke. "What do you think of her?"

Joey shrugged in his easy way and lounged back in his seat.

"She's cool. And she's pretty hot."

"I mean, what do you think of her whole investigation story?"

"I believe her. She's the same age as we are, not like we're great detectives either. It'll be okay, Yuge. Relax."

"I guess." Yugi shifted his purple gaze to the window. "I'm gonna try and catch Mokuba myself, just in case." Across the courtyard, he could just make out Kaiba's tall form walking to the front desk. "He's tired."

"Who?"

"Kaiba. Yami, too. And me."

"Yuge." Joey tapped his pen a couple times on Yugi's desk. "We'll get through this. We always do."

"Yeah." Yugi braved a grin. "Cause we're cool like that, right?"

"You know it! Power to the good guys! Oh yeah!"

"Yeah…maybe you're right."

"Course I am. By the way, what did you get for the homework?"

"Which part?"

"All of it."

Yugi hit his head on the desk.

~~*~~

_Kaiba Mansion, 3:30pm_

"Does your brother know I'm coming over?"

"What, you didn't tell him in class?"

"No, did you?"

"No, I thought you would."

"Why would I do that? You live with the guy."

"I never see him. How was I supposed to tell him?

Mokuba and Melody blinked at each other in the back seat of his brother's limo.

"We're gonna die, aren't we?" she asked. Mokuba laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well…it'll be interesting."

"Interesting? Hon, firecrackers are interesting. Tell me the truth, on a scale of one to ten, how dead am I if he walks in and I'm still in the house?"

"Aw come on, Mel." The teen gave her a one-armed hug. "You're not scared of him, are ya?"

"Of course not. I just rather like my organs on the inside of my body."

"Relax. I'll take the heat if it comes to it. I doubt Seto'll come home anyway; he usually doesn't get home until after ten. Ah, here we are."

Melody's eyes widened at the sight of the huge mansion sprawled before them. Styled after the Georgian plantation houses of the United States South, the Kaiba Mansion met its guests with an imposing, columned porch flanked by wings that could house hundreds of people.

"Like it?" Mokuba asked as the driver swiped his key card to open the gate. There was a click, a whirring, then the massive iron bars swung open.

"This place must have its own zipcode. How many people live here?"

"About twenty-four, not counting me and my brother. We have just enough staff to keep the house running and that's about it."

The drive to the front door itself took five minutes, during which Melody admired the perfectly manicured lawn and hedges. Mokuba just rolled his eyes and held open both the car and front doors when they arrived.

"I don't really care whether the hedge on the left front lawn is a perfect box or not but Seto insists on everything being just so."

"Perfectionists are like that."

"Yeah." The boy gave a slight grimace but it vanished when the butler approached.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mokuba," the suited one said. "How was your day?"

"Hey, Taishou. Pretty good."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet you."

"Don't worry about it." Mokuba motioned to the old man. "This house is just full of perfectionists. Melody, this is Taishou, butler, babysitter, and good friend. Taishou, this is Melody Solo, the chick who pwned my brother the other day."

Taishou bowed but his eyes never left the girl.

"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Solo."

"Pleasure's all mine." Melody waited until he went to put their jackets away then leaned over to Mokuba. "Is there a reason Alfred was checking me out?"

"Huh? Taishou!" Mokuba called after him. "Were you checking out Mel?"

"Yes, sir."

The two did a face-fault.

"Why?" the boy asked. Taishou folded his hands in front of him.

"Mr. Kaiba has been invited to a gala in London this weekend and he is in need of a guest."

"So you were checking out…Melody?"

"Yes, sir."

Melody burst out laughing.

"Well, I didn't think it was that funny," Taishou said mildly. Mokuba took her by the shoulders and steered her into the downstairs living room.

"Could you bring us some cookies and/or brownies, please?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thanks." Knocking the girl onto a couch, the boy took out a red three-pronged notebook and sat down. "Whenever you get a sec, Mel."

Eventually, the girl calmed down enough to form a coherent sentence and she reached for his paper. As she read, Mokuba chewed on his thumb. Pretty face, nice body, probably tall enough if she wore heels. And she definitely had the attitude. Any woman that could go up against Seto Kaiba, one of the most wanted bachelors in the world, and not go fangirl had to have the backbone of Athena herself. And, with a little work, she could even have that "It" factor those modeling shows always talk about. Maybe it really could work, especially if Yugi was right.

"This is really good, Munchkin," she said after a few minutes. "Very insightful. Your sentences get a little long though. Do you write poetry?"

He blinked.

"How'd you know?"

"Your writing is very…lyrical. I think that's what makes your sentences so long. It works if you read it with, like, a cadence, but it kinda sounds wordy otherwise."

"So I need to shorten them?"

"Not all of them. You want variety to keep the flow up. Just like here or here." She pointed to a couple sentences in the third paragraph. "Like, break it up into two sentences or something. Find a different word, maybe."

"I can do that."

"Sure you can. And if you get stuck, hit backspace. Backspace is my best friend. I can't tell you how many times I've rewritten stuff."

"Okay." He put the paper on the table. "Mel, I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest."

"Okay, shoot."

"Are you really a psychic?"

She froze.

"What?"

"Yugi said you sensed something was wrong last night and you were right and that's why you went with them to the hospital."

"That doesn't necessarily mean I'm psychic. And I was supposed to check on you about the hospital thing, not him."

"He said that but he wanted to make sure. Are you?"

The girl eyed him carefully. She'd taken an awful risk telling the others she was a mutant and they'd promised they wouldn't say anything. Did Yugi break his word? She didn't think he would, of all people. But Mokuba wasn't lying. He didn't smell of sweat and she couldn't hear a particularly loud heartbeat. Her hand started itching, clenching into a fist but she forced herself to keep it open. It wasn't Mokuba's fault if Yugi squealed

"Why does it matter?" she asked slowly.

"Well, if you are, and if things really are picking up again, then Seto could be in danger. This stuff tends to happen around people connected to Egypt and most people believe he's the reincarnation of some priest. I'd feel a lot better if I knew someone who was a little more…aware of stuff went with him."

"He's one of the most protected men in the world."

"Guns can't stop everything." He looked up at her, Puppy-Dog Eyes on full blast. "Please?"

"Aw, Munchkin, don't look at me like that." She glanced away then looked back and sighed. "We're not the best of friends, ya know."

"Well, yeah, but you wouldn't let petty fights get in the way of your job, right? All you have to do is keep him alive." Sensing her hesitation, Mokuba folded his hands in front of him in a pleading gesture.

"If you do this for me, I'll help you with your investigations. Satellites, records, computer systems, the works."

"Even with your brother hating me so much?"

"My brother doesn't like you because you humiliated him in public and kicked his chair in class. If he hated you, you'd be dead."

The blatant threat fell heavy on her ears.

"Munchkin, I get where you're coming from but I really think I'm needed here. Ryou's…" she trailed off, the word 'sick' stuck in the back of her mouth.

"Yeah," the boy sighed. "Guess you're right. I was just wondering."

"You guys have a bathroom I could borrow?"

"No, but we have one you can use. Down the hall to the right."

"It's always down the hall to the right." She stood up, ruffling his hair on the way out. "Be right back."

She barely made it out to the hall before she heard a door slam and felt a wave of frustration hit her.

"Solo!"

Oh lovely. The master was home. Melody twirled on her heel to smile at the approaching CEO.

"Hey there, blue eyes. Long time no see."

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you Mokuba needed help on his paper."

"But you failed to mention you'd be coming to my _house_ and you certainly didn't say today." Kaiba rubbed his eyes then ran a hand through his hair.

"What are you doing home so early?" she asked innocently.

"I forgot something upstairs. Look, just don't make a mess and be gone by the time I get back." He strode down the hallway, his trench coat billowing in his wake. He must have changed at school.

"You got it, babe."

All of a sudden a sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped, doubling over. Images of bloody hands and crunching snow smacked her vision. Her throat seized. Her fingers went numb. "W-wait…wait, Kaiba!"

"What now?"

She struggled to breathe as she straightened up.

"Moku-Mokuba said something about a, uh, a party this weekend."

"What of it?"

"He asked me to go with you. For support."

"You?" he scoffed. "I hardly need the support of an ignorant girl fresh from the States. No, thank you."

Melody felt her eyes start to burn but she pushed the sensation away.

"I'm a lot smarter than you think I am."

"Being smart doesn't cut it, Solo," Kaiba said, walking back to her. "You have to know how to handle people, how to deal with critical issues without ever saying it outright. You have to know how to walk, speak, and act like an aristocrat, and frankly, Solo, I don't think you're up to it."

"You don't even know me!"

"I know you're annoying and naïve. That's all I need to know."

"What, you scared I'll upstage you again?"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine! I take you with me, you make a fool of yourself, and you drop out of Domino High forever."

"And if I don't, you give me full access to your mainframe and a ride to school every day!"

"Deal!"

They shook on it and he leaned in, blue eyes piercing.

"You'll regret crossing me, Solo."

"Oh, I look forward to it." She turned on her heel and flipped her hair in his face. When she burst into the living room, she didn't even notice Mokuba running back to the couch.

"Munchkin! Change of plans. I'm going with. Tell me when and where and I'll be there with bells on."

"What changed your mind?"

"Your brother's a jerk and I'm going to make him eat his words. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mokuba watched her go and winced when the front door slammed shut. Upstairs, he could barely hear Seto's office door slam in response.

"Taishou, you're a genius."

The aged general stepped out of the shadows by the bookcase, holding a file conspicuously missing from the CEO's briefcase.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

The two shared a grin and Mokuba went up to his room to finish his homework.

~~*~~

Meanwhile, a rather frenzied high-schooler sped off to the hospital in her little, second-hand car. They had agreed she would tell the kid and they certainly never discussed Yugi or anyone else spilling the beans. To be fair, she should go off on her own right now but she wanted to know why Atemu broke his word, broke his role as an Alpha, and let his little brother betray her like this.

Oh yes, they were going to have words.

Twenty minutes later, she burst into Ryou's room with all the grace of a mud-covered bulldozer.

"Melody!" The Egyptian started in his chair. "What a nice surprise."

"Don't place innocent with me, old man. Why did your brother tell Mokuba I could sense things? You guys promised you wouldn't say anything!"

"Melody…"

"I told you what I was out of good faith; I didn't think you guys'd blurt it out right after! You gave me your word!"

"Melody."

"And you promised you'd let me check on the kid, Atemu, this isn't fair! How would you like it if I just ran down the street screaming Yugi cheated and you're really the King of Games?!"

"Melody!" Atemu stood up, suddenly much taller than his five-foot frame. "Yugi _is_ the King of Games. It was merely Fate's will that let us tie. And if Yugi told Mokuba anything, it was vague and only what Mokuba needed to know to take care of himself. He cares about the boy a lot more than you do and he probably wanted to assure his safety."

She opened her mouth to answer but he held up his hand.

"The Kaiba brothers have a right to know who's involved and even if Kaiba doesn't care, Mokuba certainly does as he is quite often the one who gets kidnapped. You told us your secret and I appreciate the risk but you must trust us if we're going to work together."

His voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"And I may be mortal but I am still powerful. If you ever accuse me or my brother of being dishonorable again, I will bring the full weight of Kemet down on your head. Do you understand me?"

"I…Y-yes." She ducked her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—let me start over. Hi, how was your day?"

Atemu slowly sat back down.

"Not good. Tristan called us a few hours after we got back from the hospital. His sister's in critical condition in Tokyo. He drove out there with her husband and son early this morning."

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"We don't know. He'll call if he learns anything new but, for now, I think it's safe to say he cannot help with Ryou."

"I don't think I'll be able to help either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Melody fidgeted with her hands. "There's a party in London this weekend and Mokuba asked me to go with Kaiba. He figures that since I can sense things a bit more than other people, I may be able to protect him or something."

"Hmm." Atemu rested his hand against his mouth. "You don't agree."

"I don't like it, no. Obviously, I wasn't too keen on Mokuba knowing in the first place and I tried to say 'no' out of principle. Then Kaiba got home and it all went down hill from there. I ended up making a bet with him so now I'm going just to prove I can."

"Better keep to that story then, if you do go, and I think you should. Kaiba is notorious for denying things he can't see. He admits the existence of the Millennium Items but anything beyond that may be hard for him to accept. Denial to that degree is almost always dangerous."

"Okay." She fluffed her hair and rubbed her eyes, then stood back up. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. How's Ryou?"

Atemu got up and walked over to the side of the bed.

"He hasn't woken yet but his strength is returning. He's not as pale, in any case."

"Any nightmares?"

"A few."

Squinting, Melody went to the other side of the bed and carefully slid up Ryou's sleeve. The two gasped at the thin white and red scars that criss-crossed the teen's forearm.

"Did you know about this?" she breathed. Atemu shook his head.

"He didn't have those during Battle City. We would've noticed."

"When was Battle City?"

"Six months ago, maybe seven."

She wrinkled her nose.

"Some of these scars are older than that. Is he suicidal?"

"No, not that I know of."

"Bakura?"

"Most likely. He can't become corporeal but he could certainly control Ryou's body and then cut himself. But that makes no sense. He needed Ryou to even be out of the ring and now he needs him more than ever. It's counter-intuitive to hurt his own vessel."

"Maybe they aren't deep enough to kill." She ran her fingers over the scars and Ryou squirmed in his sleep.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late." Yugi knocked on the door as he walked in and came over to give Atemu a hug. "I had to walk Tea home."

"For an hour and a half?" His brother asked, grinning when the teen blushed and looked away.

"Yugi, could I talk to you for a second?" Melody motioned to the window, suddenly very conscious of Atemu's warning glare burning into her back.

"Sure," Yugi joined her at the window and lowered his voice. "What is it?"

"Well…Mokuba said you talked to him before I did."

"Yeah."

"And that I could sense things."

"That's right."

"Could you…let me know before you say things like that? It…kinda threw me off."

"Oh! Mel, I'm sorry. I just got so paranoid about Ryou and Tristan…Yami told you, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm not mad at you. Just ask first?"

"No problem." The shorter teen glomped her around the waist and she fake coughed as if he'd knocked the wind out of her.

"Okay. Thanks." She smiled at him then Atemu. "Better go, then. Need to rest up if I'm going to play nice with Kaiba. Later!"

Yugi watched her leave with a curious look on his face.

"Play nice with Kaiba?"

"She's agreed to go with him to a business party this weekend. Officially, it's to settle a bet. Unofficially, she's going to keep an eye on him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I thought the disturbance was here in Domino."

"Yes, but it's only a few days and you know how Kaiba is about warnings. Even if he is safer here with us, he'd go just to prove us wrong." He paused. "Those two have a lot in common, actually."

"I noticed."

"Besides…" Atemu grinned a rather nasty grin that reminded Yugi of the days before Duelist Kingdom. "That girl is like Sekhmet incarnate. Maybe spending some time with someone as loud and independent as he is will do him some good."

"Yami, _you're_ loud and independent."

"True. But I bet she looks better in a dress."

Yugi smacked his forehead and winced. He was starting to get a bruise there.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Sorry about these chapters. They seem to be getting a little long but the chapter breaks feel odd anywhere else. And, as stated in the summary, I don't own anything recognizable. Oh, and from here on out, it gets quite a bit darker. Not 'mature,' I think, but darker. Thanks! _

Chapter 6

_October 13, 5:30pm _

"All right, Ms. Valentine. You're all done here." The talent agent handed Mai a thin black portfolio along with her press card and ID. "Just turn this in with your resume at the Kyoto branch and you'll be all set."

"Thank you. Sorry I had to pick it up so late." Mai slipped the portfolio into her bag then stuck the press card and ID into her purse. "Have a good evening."

"You, too."

Smiling at the other woman, Mai grabbed the handle of her suitcase and rolled out onto the sidewalk. The glowing lights of Tokyo met her eyes as the restaurants, bars, and karaoke stations revved up in the early evening haze. Sleek, brightly colored cars whizzed by while hundreds of shoppers milled through the crosswalks. She took a deep breath, grinning. It had been too long since she'd been here. True, they'd come to Japan during the whole Dartz thing but…Mai shook her head. That was a different Mai. She was a duelist again, a real duelist, not a glory hound or a power-hungry misanthrope. No, Mai Valentine was her own woman again. It felt good.

"Hey, long time no see."

She paused mid-step and turned. There at one of the vendors stood that dark-haired man from the airport. He had ditched the leather coat, choosing instead to wear a pair of tight black jeans and a silk, partially opened black shirt. She smiled.

"What a coincidence. You stalkin' me or something?"

"Aw, ya caught me. Snow cone?"

"No, thanks, I gotta get goin. My train leaves in, like, twenty minutes."

"Yeah? Where ya goin?"

"Domino City."

"No kidding! I got a sister up there. Why don't I ride with you? Not safe for a pretty girl like you to walk around here by yourself."

Mai couldn't help but scoff.

"I think I can take care of myself. Later."

"No, wait!" The man –James? Jake?– hurried to catch up. "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me."

"Yeah, it was."

"How about I just come with you for someone to talk to? At the very least you can laugh at my flirting attempts."

She hesitated and he gave her a roguish half-grin.

"Come on, you know how boring those bullet trains are."

"Eh, okay. Guess it wouldn't hurt to have someone keep my awake."

"Great! Here, I'll get the door." He hurried in front of her, nearly hurting himself to get to the door, and shouldered it open. Mai laughed at his antics as she slid past. People milled around the station, mostly workaholics stumbling their ways home, and the two of them found a spot on the bullet train with little difficulty.

"So what takes you to Domino?" Jake asked.

"My boyfriend."

He choked out a laugh.

"Well, that was blunt."

Mai just shrugged.

"Just tell it like it is." Never mind that Joey had never actually asked her out. "You got a girlfriend?"

"Hmm? No. I never stay in one place long enough. My job takes me all over the place."

"Really, what do you do?"

"Freelance stuff, mostly. Odds and ends, ya know. 'Jack of all trades, master of none.'"

"Mmm." The blonde woman leaned her head against the window, her violet eyes barely registering the passing cityscape.

"What's your boyfriend's name?"

"Why?"

"I dunno, just wanted to know who the lucky guy was. What's his name?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Joey Wheeler."

"Joey Wheeler…I've heard that name before…"

"He placed fourth at Battle City."

"That's right! Didn't you compete too?"

"I did but…there was an accident."

Jake frowned and shifted so he faced her more.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm okay now. The holograms are just really realistic."

"So it's Kaiba's fault? No wonder Wheeler hates him so much."

"That's not why Joey doesn't like him and I never said it was Kaiba's fault. If you're going to put words in my mouth, you can go sit over there."

The man offered a bashful smile, at least having the grace to blush.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me?"

Mai chanced a look at him only to catch one of the smoothest whipped expressions she'd seen in her life. Her stomach began to feel squidgy.

"Guess I have to if you're gonna keep me company," she said. "Gosh, you're such a player."

"Am I?" He flicked his hair out of his eyes, grinning. "So tell me more about this boyfriend of yours."

And so the trip passed. Mai talked most of the time about work, dueling, Joey, and anything else she could think of. Jake hung on every word, laughing at all the right places. Mai felt herself relaxing a little more, despite her earlier uneasiness, and soon she was even using him as a shrink.

"It's just been really hard, ya know? It's been such a rough couple of years; I'm not sure where we stand anymore. Not to mention, I'm like five years older than he is."

"Really? You look about eighteen."

"Wow, you really are a player." She gave him a good-natured smack on the knee with the back of her hand. "But no, I was twenty-one when we first met. He was only sixteen. I knew he was a dork but…I dunno, just something about him…"

"You sound like you really love him."

She blinked.

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Your eyes just light up when you talk about him. You didn't even look that way when you were talking about dueling and you're one of the best duelists I know."

"Huh…well…maybe. He's always there when I need him, at least."

"At least? Sweetheart, in this day and age, that's a miracle."

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

A voice came over the intercom, announcing their stop at Domino Station. Mai stood up and gathered her luggage.

"Thanks for the talk. Guess I'll see you around?"

"I'll come with you."

"Jake, we've been over this; I can take care of myself."

"No, for me. This train's creepy. I don't wanna stay here by myself." He put his hand on the small of her back, ushering her off the train, then followed her to the ticket stile.

"When's Joey supposed to pick you up?"

"I'm gonna call him." As she said this, she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed the street fighter. She got his voicemail. "Wheeler, where are you, you idiot? I'm here at Domino Station, car-less. Come pick me up, will ya? I'm starving."

"Everything okay?" Sometime during the message, Jake had walked to a dark sedan parked on the sidewalk and come back.

"Yeah, the dork probably left his phone in his gym bag or something. He should call back in a little bit."

"I'll wait with you."

"Okay."

Ten minutes went by. Fifteen. Twenty. At thirty minutes, Mai was pacing up and down the platform.

"That idiot! I could've walked home by now!"

"Maybe the battery's dead. Is there anyone else you can call?"

"Yeah, maybe." She tried Tea's cell, Yugi's house, Atemu's cell, Ryou's apartment, Tristan's house, and Joey's house. Nobody picked up.

"Ugh! Fine. I'll walk home and when I catch up with that mongrel, I'll skin him alive!"

"Calm down, Mai, calm down. Look, that's my friend's car right there. We can give you a ride."

"I don't wanna be any trouble."

"It's no trouble, sweetheart. Consider it thanks for bein' such a great traveling buddy."

"Well…"

"Sides, you don't wanna lug that suitcase clear across town. We can even get something to eat on the way."

She chewed on her bottom lip then nodded.

"I'll pay."

He helped her put her luggage in the trunk, griping slightly at the sheer weight of it, and got in the car. The driver, a skinny, black haired man with glasses, nodded to her as she slid in behind Jake.

"This is a buddy of mine from college," Jake said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Sean, this is Mai Valentine, duelist-turned-model extraordinaire."

"Nice to meet you," Sean said, nodding.

"Back at ya."

Sean grinned and pulled away from the station.

"Where to?

"We need food," Jake said with a stretch. "There's a McDonald's by Kaiba Corp isn't there? Burgers okay with you, Mai?"

"Sure, I like their salads."

Jake smiled and sat back, his hands folded in his lap.

"Mai, I have a confession to make. I know Joey isn't really your boyfriend even though he wants to be…and I know why he didn't come to get you."

The car doors locked.

"He thinks you get in tomorrow."

"What? I left him like two messages."

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a small PDA.

"He never got them."

"What do you mean? Jake, what's going on?"

"Oh don't worry. He'll still come to get you but he'll probably be too late." His eyes glinted in the passing streetlights. "Remember when I said having someone there is a miracle?"

"Sean, stop the car!" Mai wrenched the door handle. It didn't budge. "Jake, what's the matter with you?!"

He shrugged.

"Sorry, Mai. Miracles just don't happen."

~~*~~

The phone rang in the tastefully decorated office on the top floor of a London skyscraper. She leaned back in her chair and with a manicured hand, picked up the receiver and held it up to an ear bearing a small diamond.

"Hello, darling, how are you?" Her voice rolled out of her mouth like silk, her golden hair draped around her shoulders. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear Mr. Pegasus won't make it. But you are still coming, yes? Wonderful. I couldn't imagine this party without you. What? Of course, my love, you will sit at the head of the table, directly opposite myself. No, I would never give such a place of honor to him."

She traced her finger on the desktop as she glanced at the picture frame once again.

"You have nothing to worry about. Seto Kaiba is nothing more to me than a nice chase. I understand, love. Yes, you go work on your holograms, Siegfried. I'll take care of everything here. _Auf Widersehen_."

She hung up and pouted. It was really too bad Pegasus couldn't attend. They could've had a lot of fun together but oh well. Siegfried was coming and he was more than enough for her purposes. That just left the young Japanese boy.

Grinning to herself, she flipped to a number in her rolodex and dialed. She heard a couple rings then a chirpy girl's voice answered.

"Hello, Kaiba Corporation, Mr. Kaiba's office, this is Claire, how may I help you?"

"I want to speak to Mr. Kaiba."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. He's in a conference."

"Now."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Now, darling, or I will get irritated."

Another pause.

"Name?" the girl asked timidly.

"Irmgard Incorporated."

"Hold, please."

A moment later, Kaiba's voice came over the phone, sending a slight chill down her spine.

"Good evening, _Herr_ Kaiba. I trust I have not caught you at a bad time?"

"Elsa Seiler."

"Wonderful, you remember me! How are you, darling?"

"Fine. You?"

"Fabulous, darling, fabulous. I was just thinking about you and I said—"

"Ms. Seiler, I hate to be rude but I am late for a meeting."

"You'll forgive me, love, won't you? I was just wondering if you received my invitation."

"Yes, I got it."

"And will we be seeing you there? I couldn't imagine this party without you. Please come. You will be on my right hand, the most honored spot at my table."

"Ms. Seiler—"

"Oh please, please, say you'll come."

She heard the crunch of shifting leather and when he spoke, she could hear the smile in his voice.

"I have every intention of attending, Ms. Seiler. My guest and I will be there in our finest."

Elsa blinked a couple times.

"Your guest. Of course, dear. Wonderful. That reminds me, I have arranged a meeting with our majority shareholders the morning before the ball. Naturally, your…guest will not be able to attend but I would very much like to see you."

"Fine."

"Oh thank you! Well, I'll let you go then. _Auf Widersehen_."

Back in Domino, Seto hung up the phone with a little too much force.

"I hate that woman. Claire!"

The redhead poked her head into the office.

"Sir?"

"Change my itinerary for this weekend. There's a meeting with Irmgard Friday morning. Make sure the driver and pilot know."

"Yes, sir. Um…"

Seto looked up from his computer.

"What?"

"Nothing, sir. I…um…"

"Claire, I don't do 'um's."

"Is that woman going to be there?" Claire blushed. "That came out wrong."

"Flirting doesn't work with me; you know that. Back to work."

"Yes, sir." Considerably cheered up, the girl went back to her desk and Seto continued work on the updates to his holographic gaming tables. _Magic: The Gathering_ really would look amazing in those 3D battle boxes.

~~*~~

"I tell ya, Katie, this place is weeeeeiiiiird!" Melody flopped backwards on the bed with her cellphone attached to her ear. "And this one kid at school is just a jerk."

"You could always come back to New York." The Cajun girl sounded hopeful even as she took a break to yell at Hayden in French. He replied with a few words in Arabic, fitting since neither of them knew the other language, and Katie went off again. Melody smiled at their antics but it faded quickly.

"I don't belong in New York," she said. She heard Katie smack the other mutant before turning back to the phone.

"Yes, you do, Mel. Nobody blames you for what happened."

"I blame me."

"I know you do, but—"

"Oh, I'm going to London this next weekend."

Katie sighed.

"Why London?"

"I got roped into playing ornament at some big wig party." The girl got up to go to the kitchen and found a small tub of chocolate frosting and a spoon. "That kid I was talking about, the one at school? He's going to a gala-type thing and we have a bet going on whether or not I'll make a fool of myself."

"Well, you've got this one in the bag."

"And a free chauffeur the rest of the year. Hey, has Jean found anything else out? Or Ro?"

"No, not yet. Kurt came by the other day and said he felt the real need to pray for you. And you know him, when he feels bad about something, there's a good reason for it."

"Yeah. Don't know why though. The only thing I've found so far is this one short kid who gets possessed now and then but that hasn't happened in, like, forever." She balanced the spoon on her nose as she swallowed a rather large glob of chocolaty goodness. "I'm kinda worried about another kid though. I think he's suicidal. He's been in the hospital."

"Do they know why?"

"No." Melody suddenly felt nauseous and shoved the frosting away. "I'm tired. I think I wanna go to bed."

"Um…okay. It's still early but g'night. Hope the kid's okay."

"Yeah." She hung up and tossed the phone on the chair. "Whatever." She didn't want to think about sick kids or hospitals anymore. She had a job to do and a paper to write and a test to study for and a dress to find. And right now, she needed sleep.

~~*~~

"That's his sister! How could you do that to him?!"

The white-haired man calmly walked down the stone corridor, shadows swirling around his feet. Ryou's voice echoed through the soul room at the end of the hall and the thief allowed himself a small smile.

"Your sister died and you still lived."

"But it's not fair! It's not fair, Bakura, please!"

"Not fair." The grin dropped from his lips and he clenched his fists. "Was it fair when a soldier rammed a spear through my mother's stomach? Was it fair when my face got splattered with the blood and brains of my uncle when a pillar crushed his skull? Was it fair—"

He forced himself to open his hands.

"Fair has nothing to do with this, _yadonushi_. This is about _my_ life and _my_ future."

Voices roared around him, clamoring for his attention, screaming his name. He smiled again, his eyes shining with a pale red light.

"Tristan's in Tokyo now." The thief flexed his hand as the shadows started flowing up his legs. Blood pooled into his hand, thick and dark and beautiful. He could hear Tristan talking to his brother-in-law, the nephew whimpering and crying in the background.

"Yugi and the Pharaoh must be worried." He closed his hand. "We should go comfort them."

In the hospital room, 'Ryou' opened his eyes.

"Oh, Ryou, you're awake." Yugi smiled at him from his place next to the bed. "Good news! The doctor just came in. He said you can go home tomorrow morning. Isn't that great?"

'Ryou' smiled at the shorter duelist.

"Yeah." His right hand curled around a vial the color of dead blood. "That's great."

~~*~~

_October 14, 7:00am_

Melody arrived at school the next morning with a cloud over her head. She hadn't slept well the night before and her eyes felt dry and raw from one of the worst sniffle moods she'd had in a long time. Her alarm clock had gone off entirely too early.

"Hey, Mel, wait up!" Tea caught her elbow, making Melody jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya."

"You didn't, no worries." She relaxed the hand farthest from Tea and flexed the nail marks out of it. "What's up?"

"Not much. Ryou's going home today. Yugi called me this morning."

"That's awesome. Wait, don't you guys walk together?"

"He had some stuff to do at the Game Shop so he just told me to go on." The brunette frowned slightly as they walked into the school. "Are you okay? Your eyes look red. Have you been crying?"

"Just had a rough night." Melody wiped her eyes then ran a hand through her hair. "Weird dreams."

"What about?"

"Something…cold." Her gaze lost some of its focus. "I was in a forest and there was all this snow on the ground. But it was dirty and muddy, like someone had run through it before me, and there was this dark, coppery smell in the air. And a tiger."

"A tiger?"

"Yeah, I've been dreaming about a tiger for a couple of months now. She just keeps chasing me and I keep running into things or slipping. Last night I tripped over a…what was it? I think it was a boulder or something. I just faceplanted right into it."

Tea smiled at the image.

"What did you eat before you went to bed?"

Melody laughed.

"Sushi and chocolate. Guess I'm not doin that anymore, huh? Tea? You okay?"

The brunette just shook her head and closed her locker.

"Nothing. Just some kid that's been stalking me."

"You have a stalker?"

"Yeah. Nothing big. He's just a junior that's had a crush on me since he was like…eight."

Melody looked over her shoulder as a dark-haired boy with glasses ducked into a math class.

"He's…kinda cute. Date-worthy?"

"Hardly. Besides, I like—"

"Hey, Tea. Hey, Mel."

"Yugi!" Tea cried happily. "Hi."

The shorter duelist smiled at them both but Melody noticed the one for Tea was a little brighter. She had to resist going 'aww' at the two and instead coughed into her arm.

"What's up, Yugi?"

"Not much." He turned and they started walking towards their first class. "Tired from staying up with Ryou but they're letting him go home today. I'm gonna go over there and check on him this afternoon. Oh and Mel, Mokuba asked if you could stop by his house on your way home. Something about a dress."

"A dress?" Tea eyed Melody with a wry grin. "Mel, what haven't you been telling me?"

"She's going on a date with Kaiba," Yugi chirped.

"What?!"

"Yugi!" Melody swung for him but he dodged and held his books over his head.

"Naw, I'm just kidding," he said. "Mokuba asked her to go with him to some party in England this weekend and she needs something to wear."

"Sounds like a date to me." Tea said.

"It's not a date; it's a bet. Ain't that right, Kaiba?" She smiled sweetly at the CEO by the door, who just glared and walked into the classroom next to theirs.

"You're gonna win, right?" Tea asked. "I know I'm not supposed to be mean but he's gotten all snotty again."

"Yeah, I'll win." She hesitated at the door long enough to catch his gaze and smirk at him before going into their class.

The rest of the day went by like drips of water from a stalactite. Melody almost caught herself looking forward to history class, if for nothing else than to tick off Kaiba. It was so easy to get under his skin. She let out an evil little giggle when at last the bell rang to go to seventh period. Cheap entertainment, she knew, but after the night she had, she felt she deserved it.

"Hey there, blue eyes," she said, sliding into her chair, this time, next to him. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Well, you're inordinately cheerful. Did you castrate some poor fool out in the hall?"

"Not yet but it's still early." She watched him carefully position his laptop out of her immediate reach and propped her cheek in her palm.

"So the Munchkin wants me to come by after school and get a dress."

"Good. You'll at least look the part."

"I'll act the part too. Just you wait."

"With bated breath." Not once did he look up but she could smell the rising tension in the air. A grin pulled at her lips.

"I was wondering: should I act like I'm your girlfriend?"

"Solo, I would never, in this life or the next, ever have you as a girlfriend."

"Is that a yes or a no? I could hang on you like those girls in the movies."

"I will punch you in the face."

"Would you really hit a woman?"

At last, he looked up.

"A woman? No. You?"

Melody narrowed her eyes and turned around with a huff. This class was going to be so long.

~~*~~

Joey got to the Domino Station at about four-thirty that afternoon. The train didn't come in until five-ten but he was excited so he figured he could just come early and wait. It had been a while since they'd seen each other, after all. So, with a yawn and a stretch, the blonde slid off his jacket and sat down. All too late, he noticed a little girl perched at the other end with pigtails and a lollipop as big as she was.

"Hi!" she chirped.

He waved and went back to scanning the crowd of milling passengers.

"I'm Tammy."

"Mmm."

"I'm waitin for my sister."

"Cool."

"She works at a candy store."

"Really?" He turned to put his arm on the back of the bench, leaning his cheek on his knuckles. "Where at?"

The little girl pointed behind her.

"It's by Kaiba Corp. Mr. Kaiba comes in all the time. He's really funny."

Joey had to duck his head to keep from laughing in her face

"Yeah, we all love Kaiba."

The little girl nodded happily and nibbled the top of her lollipop.

"Who're you waitin' for?" she asked.

"A friend. I haven't seen her in a while and I'm really excited."

"What's she look like?"

"Well, she's about my height with long, curly blonde hair and big—" He caught himself just in time. "Big, purple eyes.

"She your girlfriend?"

"I uh—well…no, not exactly."

"Oh."

"Tammy! Tammy, there you are!"

The chibi lit up and waved at the slim young woman that came to sweep her into her arms.

"Thanks for waiting. You ready to go?"

"Yup. I made a new friend." Tammy pointed at Joey, who stood up and bowed.

"Joey Wheeler."

"Amy Hikaru. Thanks for keeping her out of trouble."

"No problem."

She tucked some hair behind her ear then gave little Tammy a kiss on the cheek.

"Say goodbye, Tammy."

"Bye bye!"

He waved as they got onto the train to Kyoto, laughing when Tammy tried to stick the entire lollipop in her mouth.

"Sweet kid."

Just then he heard techno music and he reached into his pocket for his phone.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, Mr. Wheeler." A deep, male voice met his ears. "How are you today?"

"Who is this?"

"A friend. Your best friend, as a matter of fact."

"Sorry, man, none of my friends sound like mafia hit men. Later."

"Mai's really pretty, ya know. You're very lucky."

His finger froze over the talk button and he slowly brought the phone back up to his ear.

"Whaddya talkin' about?"

"Mai. Your girlfriend. I'm sitting with her right now; she wanted me to call you and tell you she won't be able to make it tonight. See, she got in yesterday and just got hung up on a few things."

"Whaddya mean? She said she was staying another day."

"Oh really? Well, I guess you can't trust that Alltell fool, can you?"

Joey shook his head at the mismatch then pushed it to the back of his mind.

"Where is she?" he asked. "Let me talk to her."

"Just a minute. Mai, he wants to talk to you."

There was a thud, a strangled cry. Joey felt his stomach drop.

"Mai!"

"Sorry, she can't talk right now. Can I take a message?"

"You jerk, what did you do to her?!"

The other man chuckled.

"I'll tell you what. Come meet me at the pier in one hour. No friends, no cars, no catching a bus where people might remember you."

"What, you expect me to run all the way to the pier? That's across town?"

"Then you'd better hurry, don't you think? One hour, Joseph."

The teen hung up and ran for all he was worth.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_October 14-15_

He got to the pier with only a few minutes to spare, panting and wheezing.

"Wow, you _are_ in good shape!"

Joey whirled to see a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt clapping.

"Where…where is she? Where's…Mai…?"

The man stopped clapping and stuck his hands in the big front pocket of his sweatshirt.

"Let's talk."

"I'm done talking! I'm sick of talking to sickos like you! Just give her back and I'll snap your neck before I knock your teeth in!"

The man laughed.

"Mai said you had a temper." The mirth dropped out of his voice. "Better rein it in."

A dark sedan drove up behind him and someone on the inside opened the door. He nodded to the car.

"Get in."

Joey swallowed, barely noticing the greasy film in his mouth from running so hard, and got in. The man followed and shut the door.

"Drive around a little, Tom." He pulled his hood back to reveal an older man that reminded Joey of Harvey Dent before he lost his marbles. "Now, Joey, I want you to understand that my little group is strictly freelance. I have nothing against any of you. Unfortunately, my employer does."

"Somebody paid you to kidnap Mai?"

"Kidnap? She got in this car of her own free will."

"That's bull—"

"You're probably wondering why I let you see my face and why I didn't mask my number from your cell phone."

Joey swallowed.

"…It crossed my mind."

"Well, let it cross a few more times. It's weird for a mercenary group to be so careless, isn't it?"

Joey narrowed his eyes. He couldn't argue with the man. It was stupid for someone to pull a stunt like that, a rookie move. The only dangerous ones who revealed themselves so early in the game were people like Dartz and Pegasus, people who thought they would win and nobody would be left to—The truth hit him like the train he'd just left.

"You're going to kill us."

The man didn't answer.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's nothing personal, Joey. It's just that you and Mai and Tea and who knows who else are always used to get to Yugi Moto. I never understood how that would be any better than going directly for Yugi himself but my boss is a fan of the classics."

"Why does your boss want Yugi? He's a duelist, not some witness or something."

The man shrugged.

"I don't ask so long as the check clears." He took out a nine-millimeter with a silencer from the pouch of the passenger seat. "Now, the odds are stacked against you. I have the gun, the car, and your girlfriend. Are you going to be good or am I going to have to do that whole phone call thing and let you listen to her scream?"

Joey clenched his fists, brown eyes flashing.

"I'll cooperate," he growled. The man nodded.

"Great. One more time around, Tom, then head back to our place."

"You got it."

Clenching his jaw, Joey turned to stare out the window. He swore under his breath. Tinted windows. Perfect.

~~*~~

"Thanks for the dress, Munchkin."

"No problem." Mokuba watched her model the gown in front of his full-length mirror and stuck another piece of pocky in his mouth. "The least I can do for looking after my brother."

"Oh please, I'm not looking after him. I'm going to settle a bet and if something happens to threaten his life, I'll deal with that then."

"Yeah, whatever. Just to let you know, Seto is really competitive. And he's really good at mind games."

"Relax, kid. I'll be fine." She gingerly picked up the hem of the dress and went into the bathroom to change. "Where'd you get this anyway? Leftover from one of his many girlfriends?"

"Believe it or not, Seto doesn't date."

"Really?"

"Doesn't have time. Doesn't have time for anything anymore." Mokuba stared at the carpet for a second then took a deep breath. "Will that dress work?"

"Yeah, thanks. So who—" Her cell phone rang. "Could you get that?"

"Sure." Mokuba reached over to dig her tiger-striped phone out of her backpack. "Mel's phone."

"Hello, Mokuba. It's Atemu. I was wondering if you or Melody had seen Joey."

"No, we've been at my house since school let out. Why?"

"I can't get a hold of him and he was supposed to swing by here on the way back from picking up Mai."

"Maybe there's traffic."

"Maybe." Atemu sounded doubtful. "All right, thank you, Mokuba."

The boy hung up right as another call came through.

"Mel's bar, jewelry store, and midwifery, how can we help you?"

"Munchkin!"

Yugi laughed on the other end of the line.

"Oh, hey, Mokuba. Have you guys seen Tea? We were gonna meet at Ryou's."

Mokuba opened his mouth to say 'no' but he suddenly heard gasping from the bathroom. He ran in to see Melody doubled over, clutching her stomach. Her eyes glowed an eerie yellow from under her hair and she seemed to stare past him.

"Mel! What is it, Mel? Are you okay?"

Her phone rang again and Mokuba switched lines. It was Atemu again.

"What happened, Mokuba? Something shifted. What happened?"

"I don't know! Mel just doubled over!"

The phone by his bed rang then his cellphone in his bag. The lights flickered. Melody's phone made a high-pitched squealing noise and Mokuba dropped the phone. It hit the floor, she screamed, then it all went quiet. The boy rubbed his hands on his pants and leaned down to help up Melody.

"Are you okay?"

"No." She looked up and cat-like pupils stared up at him. "Call Atemu back. We need to find Joey. Now."

"What happened?"

"I think something's happening to that Mai girl."

~~*~~

Mai woke to the smell of dust and oil. It clung to the roof of her mouth and she coughed. Reaching up, she felt something hot and sticky run down her face. Oh right. They hit her. She must have passed out after they called Joey. Her eyes widened. Joey! She sat up then groaned as her stomach lurched and her head decided to flip upside down.

"Oh good, you're awake." A new man dressed in a blue and white jogging suit came in bearing a tray of water and a piece of bread.

_Oh that's original_. Mai struggled to turn around. The plastic cords around her wrists and ankles chafed, and she'd probably start bleeding if she moved too much, but for now, they just hurt. She could deal with a little pain.

"What's going on? What happened to Joey? Why didn't he meet me?"

"Joey? Oh, the stupid guy." He came to stop in front of her. "Jake went to get him."

"He's not stupid."

"Sweetie, he walked right into a trap, no, ran into it full-tilt, and now he's gonna end up shanked. I'd say that's pretty stupid."

"You bastard!"

The man's eyes lowered and she held her wrists up in front of her chest.

"It's not like you gave him a choice!" she spat.

"Oh, like a slut like you's really important."

Mai clenched her teeth.

"Well at least I'm not some sniveling coward that has to kidnap some woman to get some money. What happened? Did that investment not work or something? Your little woman can't eat so you have to punish me too?"

His eye twitched and the cup on the tray started to rattle.

"Shut your mouth."

"Bet your kids are real proud of Daddy. Do you tell them about this at dinner or do you wait til you put them to bed?"

"Shut up!" He threw the tray to the side, leapt forward, and grabbed her hair. "Just shut up shut up shut up!"

He let her go and stalked towards the door. Mai shook her hair out, wincing at the strain in the back of her neck.

"Oh, very mature." Something in the back of her mind told her to keep quiet, to just let him walk away, but her stomach growled and her head hurt. "Can't handle hearing the truth so you just yell and scream and they all just buckle."

He stopped at the door.

"Mr. Big Macho Man," she went on. "When I get out of here, I'm gonna tell your kids every little thing you punks did to me, just for a little money. Bet they'll love you then."

She saw him stiffen and too late thought, _Crap_, as he rushed back and smacked her hard across the mouth.

"Jake won't be back for a while," he said, smacking her again. "And as long as I don't kill you, he shouldn't care what happens."

"Rot in Hell."

He grabbed her hair and yanked.

"You arrogant little—"

"Koshida. That's enough." Sean put a heavy hand on the big man's shoulder. "You know Jake wouldn't like this."

"But she—"

"I don't care what she did. We're supposed to keep her here for that Wheeler punk. Nothing else. Go check with rest of the boys. Make sure everything's ready."

The other man threw Mai on the ground and stalked off, swearing. Sean looked back at Mai.

"You don't want to test him, Mai. He's going through a rough time."

"Oh, like I'm not!"

"He's not stable. His wife's sick and he has three kids under the age of ten."

"I don't care if he's got four horses and a baby elephant!" She spat blood on the floor and forced herself into a sitting position. "Nobody treats me like this! Nobody!"

Sean opened his mouth to respond when his cell phone rang. He walked a few feet away to answer.

"Yeah? Yeah, we have her. I…what? No, one of the men got a little rough with…oh. Yeah. Yeah, I understand." He hung up and stared at his phone. After a long moment, he called for Koshida. The big man came back in, his face still dark.

"That creepy guy just called," Sean said.

"Him again? What's he want?"

Sean glanced sideways at Mai and she suddenly felt sick.

"He wants more. I'm sorry, Mai. Really. But this is over Jake's head."

"Sean…"

"She's all yours, Koshida." He turned and walked out of the room as Koshida advanced with a look of grim triumph.

"Sean!" Mai scooted backwards as fast as she could. "No, Sean! You can't leave me in here!" She ran into the cold metal wall. "Sean, please! Sean!"

~~*~~

Jake and Joey pulled up to the warehouse an hour later, situated somewhere in a port on the other side of the city.

"She'd better be okay," Joey said, his jaw set.

"I know, I know, or you'll knock my teeth in. I'm just doing my job, Joey. My men were given strict instructions not to hurt her."

"That's changed a little, Jake." A younger man stood leaning on the outside of the warehouse. "We got a call a little while ago."

"About what?" Jake asked.

"About the Valentine chick."

"What happened?" Joey yelled. "What did you do t'Mai?!"

Sean glanced away. Jake swore and ran inside. Joey outpaced him in seconds.

"Mai! Mai, where are you?"

The screams got louder. They burst into a side office to see a big man with his pants around his ankles and slim pale legs sticking out from under him.

"Koshida!" Jake yelled.

"You bastard, get offa her!"

Joey ran in, grabbed him by the shoulder, and threw him into the wall. Mai thrashed on the ground, trying to roll over to cover her bare chest and hiked up skirt. He pulled her into his arms and she broke down.

"It's okay, Mai. It's okay, I'm here now."

"Joey…"

He squeezed her tight then set her down and pounced on the other man.

"I'll freakin kill you, you bastard!"

"I'm just doin my job!"

Joey punched him in the jaw, kicked him in the groin. A gunshot ricocheted in the tiny office and Koshida slid to the floor. Joey stared at the blood oozing onto the floor.

"I liked Mai," Jake said, lowering the gun. "I told them not to hurt her."

Joey stood panting, his fists clenching and unclenching at his side.

"I wasn't done with him yet. How could you do this? How could you let this happen?!"

Jake met his gaze, his own face a little green.

"She's spoiled now. You won't want her anymore." He raised the gun. Joey's eyes widened and he threw himself over Mai. His back exploded with white-hot pain. Mai screamed again, then his world went black.

Jake sighed and put his gun back in his jacket. He'd meant to shoot Mai but shooting Joey worked just as well. The goat-head necklace glowed through his shirt and a pleasant warmth spread through his chest. Too bad, really. They were nice kids. He kicked something off his foot, Mai's corset or something, and headed back out to the car. Sean met him at the door.

"What happened?" he asked. The necklace glowed again and Jake reached into his jacket. Sean was dead before he hit the ground.

~~*~~

Atemu groaned into his hands then propped his arms on the sink. Still no news from Tristan. Still no news from Ryou or Yugi. He could feel something moving in the city and he knew it involved the white-haired boy but he couldn't tell anything else. It unnerved him. He didn't like being in the dark, not when this menace could hurt his family.

The Pharaoh's head lowered and his eyes slid shut.

"Ra…will it never be enough? What does he want?"

_Ku ku ku ku…_

His head whipped up.

"Bakura?!"

In the mirror, his eyes slowly turned brown, then red, and his dark hair lightened, shifting into spikes. Atemu swore in Egyptian.

"What do you want, tomb-robber? The Millennium Items are gone now; what could you possibly want?!"

The image smiled.

_You, _it whispered._ You and your pitiful family…weak, broken, devastated_.

"No! I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

The smile widened and suddenly the soap dish in the shower cracked. The shelf buckled. The light bulb burst.

"Bakara!"

The mirror wobbled then with, one final wink from the image, shattered outward. Atemu threw his arms up, screaming, and fell backwards.

"Yami, are you okay?" Yugi came pounding on the door. "Yami, let me in!"

Atemu looked up, little pieces of glass falling off his hair and shoulders.

"Yami!"

He closed his eyes. Would it never end?

~~*~~

Melody drove as fast as she could, pushing her little junker way past its limits. Her eyes still burned but her head hurt even worse.

"Slow down, Mel, slow down!" Mokuba flinched as they sped past another car's grill. "You're gonna get us killed!"

"No, I won't." The buzzing in her mind flared on her left side and she wrenched the steering wheel.

"You can't cross three lanes of traffic!"

"Shut up, kid. We're almost there."

Mokuba narrowed his eyes.

"Don't tell me to shut up." His tone made her blink and she fought through the terror in her gut to take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. Remix: please don't distract me. I won't let you get hurt."

He nodded then clamped onto the door as she took another dime-turn. She gritted her teeth.

"Sorry," she muttered. Images of Joey and some blonde woman flashed in front of her eyes. Bile rose in her throat.

_Come on, come on, come on_.

They pulled up to a warehouse and they jumped out. The scent of fresh blood and gun grease nearly knocked her over and she leaned heavily on the car. Her mouth started watering. On the other side of the car, Mokuba gagged and put a hand over his mouth.

"Mel?"

She swallowed hard.

"Let me go first." Melody ran in, remembering too late that the bad guys might still be there. Mokuba followed on her heels.

"Over here!" Mokuba ran toward a side office on the other end of the building where a backpack sat on a folding chair. Melody started to run after him when someone screamed. She whirled.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Come on, Mel, hurry!"

Melody stared into the dark, her gold eyes searching for something, anything that might have made that noise. She didn't know that voice, did she? She frowned. Maybe she…Oh no…

"Tea…Mokuba, I'll be back! Call for another driver if you have to—"

The boy stopped short just before the office door.

"Mel! I can't do this by myself! What if they're—Mel, come, quick!"

She hurried over to him to see Joey, his back a bleeding mess, lying in the lap of a hysterical blonde woman with her clothes hanging off of her.

"Sweet Eru," Melody whispered. Mokuba glomped the woman then pressed his jacket into the hole in Joey's back. That voice screamed again. Melody squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing her hair in frustration. It had finally started. And she had no way of helping them all at once.

~~*~~

"Leave me alone, please!" Tea rounded a corner, almost falling off her platforms. "Get away from me!"

"But I love you, Tea!" The dark-haired boy from school ran faster. "Come on, I'll take care of you! I promise! I'll be a lot better than that Yugi kid!"

Tea shook her head, tears flying from her eyes.

"This is not Death Note! I am not Misa-Misa! Just leave me alone!"

She turned another corner. Her cellphone flew out of her purse and crashed to pieces on the sidewalk. She could see him now, his eyes wild.

_Yugi, where are you? Pharaoh…somebody…_

"Tea, look out!"

A car horn blared. She stopped short, raising her arms against the headlights.

"YUGI!!!"

~~*~~

Atemu stood by the window slowly flipping through the readouts as Mokuba and Melody sat quietly in the Moto's living room.

"Tristan's sister is stable but he can't leave his brother-in-law and nephew. Joey's in critical condition with a gunshot wound through his left lung. Mai's in shock with severe blood loss, emotional trauma, and tearing of both her vaginal and uterine walls. Tea's in traction with both legs broken, four broken ribs, a sprained wrist, and a mild concussion."

He set down the clipboard and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"We can't expect help from any of them. Not until they heal. Yugi's alternating between Joey, Tea, and Mai, and Granpa is on his way."

Melody sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Atemu. If I had just acted sooner…"

"No, little one." The Pharaoh came to put his hand on the top of her head. "You did what you could. You are young and still act based on your instincts. With time, you'll be able to plan ahead and act before things get out of control."

Melody sniffed again.

"Stop that," Mokuba said. "We got to Joey and Mai in time. They're not dead, right? Seto says that's half the battle right there."

Atemu smiled briefly at the boy then it faded and he sat down in his chair.

"Bakura came to me last night."

"What?"

"Why?"

"I didn't want to say anything until I was certain, but…the thief seems bent on revenge."

"What did he say?" Mokuba asked.

Atemu sighed.

"He said he didn't want anything in particular. He just wanted to break us. Me. It doesn't seem to be about the Millennium Items this time."

"So that's what the dark force is," Melody said, nodding. "Bakura's returned and he's taking them all out one at a time. He's removing your support system."

"Yes. It's ingenious really." The Pharaoh took a deep breath, pulling his regal air back around him like a cloak. "You should go home, Melody. You have an early flight tomorrow."

Melody just stared at him with wide, red-rimmed eyes.

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

"After all of this, you just want me to leave the country? I'll do a better job, Atemu, I swear!" She knelt at his feet with her hands on his knee. "I just wasn't listening well enough. I can help you guys. I promise."

"Melody!" Atemu gave her a stern look then smiled and took her hands. "So passionate, yet so quick to beg. Get up, my dear. I have no power over you."

"I'm sorry," she said, standing.

"And stop apologizing. Just go home and get ready for tomorrow. Kaiba needs support more than ever now. Just because he doesn't believe in the supernatural, doesn't mean it can't affect him. And outside of Domino, I cannot protect him."

"That's right." Mokuba glomped Melody from the side. "I need you to look after my brother. You still will, right?"

"Of course, Munchkin." She squeezed his shoulders. "I promise. I'll go to this stupid party, show up your brother, then we'll come back and beat up this Bakura guy."

"Sounds good to me," said the Egyptian. "I'm going to try and figure out Bakura's next move. Good night, Melody. You'll take Mokuba home?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Good night, Mokuba. And try not to worry too much." He smiled at them both and Melody almost believed it was a real smile. "Everything will be fine."

~~*~~

Five o' clock rolled around far too early for Melody's liking. After leaving the Game Shop, she called New York to report then tried to go to bed. Nightmares of blood and ice plagued her yet again and she finally dozed off ten minutes before her alarm went off. Growling, she got dressed, grabbed her suitcase, and drove out to the Kaiba Mansion's runway.

"You're late," Kaiba snapped. She just yawned, curling out her tongue like a cat, and pushed up her sunglasses.

"Yeah well, if you'd been a gentleman and sent a car for me, I wouldn't have gotten lost."

"If I were a gentleman, I wouldn't be taking you at all." He turned on his heel and led the way to the jet. "Is that all you're taking?"

"Mokuba said he'd handle the dress."

"Yes, it's on there. Just don't embarrass me, Solo."

"Yeah, I am just so worried about that." She handed off her suitcase to the man loading the cargo hold and climbed up the steps after Kaiba. "I have more important things to worry about than your pride, blue eyes."

"Really, and what might those be? Don't wanna miss that manicure appointment?"

"For your information, Joey, Mai, and Tea are all in critical condition at the hospital, and Yugi and Atemu are wearing themselves out trying to look after them."

"My heart bleeds." The hatch snapped closed behind them and Kaiba signaled the pilot to take off. Sitting down and opening a manila folder, he said,

"If they weren't so weak, none of that would've happened."

"You weren't there. Don't be mean just because you don't care."

"And don't assume I don't care just because you don't like me."

"Do you care?"

"No, but you shouldn't make assumptions anyway. It's stupid."

Melody rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Whatever. I'm tired, I'm worried, my head hurts, and I'm going to take a nap."

"Thank God," Kaiba muttered. "At least the ride will be quiet."

"What was that?"

"I don't repeat myself."

She threw her hands in the air and walked to the far couch to lie down.

_Eru, give me strength_.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_October 15_

"Ah good morning, Mr. Kaiba."

Mokuba smiled at his brother's aide as he stepped into the main office.

"Morning, Claire. How's life?"

The woman grinned cutely and handed him a manila folder containing that morning's security codes and company stats.

"As well as can be expected." She eyed him approvingly. "You're up and at 'em before ten? I'm impressed."

"Yeah well, Seto asked me to check up on stuff while he was away. That, and it gets me outta class." He glanced at the ups and downs Claire had arranged in neat little graphs and sighed. "I know what all this stuff means and all but for the life of me, I don't know why Seto's at it all the time."

"Ours not to question why." She tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear and sat back down at her desk. Her pretty green eyes seemed to just zone in on her computer, a trait Seto had undoubtedly looked for when hunting for an aide. Roland was a great assistant, one of the best, but he was head of security. Seto needed someone to help with the legal crap that neither of them had time for. And of course, they had gotten rid of the Big Five so that meant no Board of Directors.

So…voila. Claire, a law graduate of Tokyo U, had been recruited into one of the hardest jobs in the corporate world: secretary to Seto Kaiba himself.

A slight woman of maybe five-four, Claire often wore her hair in a French braid to keep it out of her face. Today she wore a knee length tan skirt and a beige blouse with ruffles around the collar and sleeves. She didn't wear much jewelry except for a small oval locket from her boyfriend and a gaudy red ring she always wore on her right hand. Mokuba had asked her about it a couple weeks after she first came to work here. She said she'd gotten it from one of those quarter slot bubblegum machines when she was twelve, the first time she'd ever gone to Disney World over Orlando.

Seto had, of course, rolled his eyes and walked away.

"How's the beau?" Mokuba asked, hopping up on her desk.

"Harm's fine."

"Harm. What kind of parent would name their child 'Harm'?"

"The kind that knows a girl like me'll come along and like the name and decide to put up with him for a while. Off my desk, squirt, you're wrunkling my stuff."

"Wrunkling?" Mokuba raised an eyebrow, making him look a lot like his brother. "Is that even a word?"

"It is now." She gave him a gentle push and he got up. "Heard anything from Mr. Kaiba?"

"He's gonna call when it's morning their time. On the way back. Everything's good so far."

"Good."

"And you're over here 'no, just stay away one more day!'" The younger Kaiba walked around and opened the top drawer of her desk. "Aw man, no pocky?"

"I haven't had time to go to the market. Gimme a break. There's some chocolate in the back though."

"So you're not a total loss! Miracles never cease." He withdrew a Three Musketeers bar and took a big bite out of it.

"Ha ha. Roland called. He said he needed to take a few days off. Somethin' about his sister going into labor early or something. I told him to go ahead. Lord knows he hasn't had a day off in years. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Just don't do that when Seto's here. Check in with one of us beforehand."

"All right. He left a couple numbers; I put them in on Mr. Kaiba's desk."

"You're awesome, Claire. Thanks." He took another bite of the candy bar before heading into his brother's inner office. "Oh and that new guy, Scott Varons…"

"Clocked in at seven this morning. Did a full systems check of the mansion then the mainframe and now he's coverin' the theme park floor."

"Wow."

"Yeah. He has about as much of a life as—"

"My brother, yeah I know. You don't even have to say it." Mokuba balled up the wrapper and threw it at her. "I'll holler if I need anything."

"Okiday, Mr. Kaiba, sir." Claire sighed as the door shut and went back to work. "Not like I'm goin anywhere."

A couple clicks of her mouse and soon Garth Brooks was blasting through her speakers.

"_Standing outside the fire _

_Standing outside the fire _

_Life is not tried, it is merely survived _

_If you're standing outside the fire!_"

~~*~~

"Everything's secure, Mr. Varons."

Scott Varons nodded in acknowledgement and put his cell back in his pocket.

"I trust you can handle things here? There's something Mr. Kaiba asked me to do before he left."

"Yes, sir. We'll alert you if there's a problem."

"Of course you will." Flicking his neat blonde hair out of his narrow brown eyes, Scott weaved his way through the milling crowds of children. Saturday. He just had to draw the Saturday shift down here in the theme park.

Still…it could've been worse. He could've been assigned to scoping out the local tournament. That jerk Kaiba seemed to have a fetish with security. Anything and everything even remotely connected to Kaiba Corp or its technologies was to be guarded like the President of the United States. He said after all the whoopdeedoo during the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City Tournaments that such a step was only natural.

_Hnh. Natural, my butt_. Scott knew a paranoid skitzo when he saw one. Not that he'd ever say that to Kaiba's face. He wasn't born yesterday. Even though he had to act like it to that Mokuba brat.

Within minutes, he'd reached the door that led into one of the many techno-centers of the park and swiped his key card. The door opened to reveal a long sterile hallway and soon the deafening sounds of the park faded away. It didn't really matter what he had to act like. At the end of the day, they were just a couple more bodies and that's where the money came from.

_Now where was that back door?_

~~*~~

Ryou woke late that morning to the acrid smell of just-snuffed candles. He grimaced and rolled over on his side.

_What happened?_

He sat up, holding his head, and waited for the room to stop spinning. Candles, incense, and chalk covered the hardwood floor in weird patterns. Ryou scooted away from the main circle and made his shaky way to the bathroom. Bakura. The spirit must have left those little tokens out to frighten him. Never mind that he couldn't even pass a church without his head exploding or that he hadn't been able to find his Bible since he got back from the hospital.

_I wish he didn't hate me so much_.

Leaning down, Ryou splashed his face with cold water then winced when he brushed his forehead. He grimaced again and, patting his face dry, caught sight of himself in the mirror. His normally neat, smooth hair stood up at odd angles that looked like he'd just rolled down a mountain. Scrapes covered his neck, shoulders, and arms, and his right eye was almost swollen shut. That explained the pain earlier. He must've fallen.

"_Come on, boy, let's go! We don't have all day!"_

"_Coming, Pa. Where's Mama?"_

"_Fixing dinner, now hurry up or she'll feed your bit to the dogs."_

"_Ah! No no no no no, wait for me!"_

Ryou shook his head and dropped the towel on the sink counter. More flashbacks. He always heard that same man's voice, sometimes with a woman's voice, sometimes with an older man's voice that seemed to echo off stone walls. He wanted to ask Bakura about it but he was pretty sure the nightmares would just get worse. He sighed. That's all it felt like he was anymore, a host for nightmares and memories that weren't his. And voices. Sometimes they weren't even flashbacks. Sometimes, they were just voices whispering horrible things in his ears. Or laughing. Whatever they were, he wasn't Ryou anymore, just the weird boy with the white hair. "That poor little English kid," they said, "he's had so many problems."

Yeah. Sure. Whatever.

Shuffling into the kitchen, Ryou saw the candles on the floor a little better. Four candles stood at four of the five points of a pentagram drawn in chalk and silver dust. Ryou stepped closer, a gnawing in his stomach. He could smell something coppery and he watched in horror as blood started oozing out of the candles.

"No…"

Screams, three female, one male, grew louder as more blood oozed out.

"Joey…the girls…"

Ryou clapped his hands over his ears.

"NOOO!!" He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife.

_You idiot, what are you doing?!_ Bakura's image glared at him from the broad side of the knife. _Put that down!_

"No! I'm a good kid. I don't want to hurt people anymore!" Gripping the handle, he started dragging the tip down his forearm. Bakura fought for control but Ryou gripped the knife harder.

"I won't be your puppet."

"Yes, you will, idiot _yadonushi_." Bakura wrenched control from Ryou and threw the knife into the sink before folding his arm up and digging out a hand towel. With the ease of long practice, the thief tied the hand towel around his arm, using his teeth to get the pressure he needed.

"I've had just about enough of your heroics, _hikari_," Bakura spat. Walking into the living room, he checked to make sure the circle was still intact. Satisfied, he picked up his cell phone.

_I want to die!_ Ryou screamed from his soul room. _Why can't I die and kill both of us? You want to die too. I know you do! I've seen it! I know what happened to your family. Please, just let me end this!_

"You would condemn me to Hell, Ryou? That's not very Christian-like."

Bakura felt Ryou withdraw a little.

_That's not fair._

"Neither is ruining all my hard work. Now shut up. This will all be over soon."

_Why not now?_ Ryou slid down the wall of his soul room, his mind barely this side of conscious._ I don't want to fight anymore. I want a family again. Why can't we just act like brothers?_

"Because I'm not the Pharaoh, you moron. Forgive me if I'm not as lovey-dovey as he is with the brat. I wasn't as pampered."

…_but I'm tired, Bakura_.

"Yeah." Bakura absently thumbed the phone, his eyes growing distant. "Yeah, I am too." Shaking himself, Bakura dialed a long-distance number and held it up to his ear. "Just a little longer, Ryou. Then we can end this."

~~*~~

That afternoon landed Seto and Solo in Heathrow Airport, just west of London proper. The flight had been mostly uneventful, both passengers too preoccupied to even make many snide remarks.

"Ah, the joys of jetlag." Solo took a deep breath as she stepped off the jet then coughed into her hand. "Not the cleanest place in the world, is it?"

"You'll get over it." Seto gave some instructions to the pilot then walked quickly over to the Rolls Royce waiting on the tarmac. "Move it, Solo. I want to get some sleep before the meeting tomorrow."

"What meeting?"

"The meeting with Irmgard tomorrow morning."

"Abooouut?"

Seto closed his eyes and counted to three as he got in the car. Solo got in behind him and, thankfully, sat as close to her door as possible.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked.

"Because I don't want to sit there like an idiot at dinner. I'm your date, not an ornament."

"Guest, not date."

"Fine. Guest, then. Now come on, what's the meeting about?"

He let out an exasperated sigh.

"Elsa Seiler, Irmgard's CEO, wants to talk to me and some of the board members about a possible deal with Kaiba Corp."

"And it's not good to talk bluntly about business at dinner."

"It's bad manners. These dinners are usually just to meet people then set up meetings for later in the week."

"But we won't be here."

"Hence, the meeting in the morning."

"So are you gonna?"

"Am I _going to_ what?"

"What, I can't even use slang around you?"

"You could but I'll correct you."

"Fine. Are you _going to_ deal with them?"

Seto made a derisive snort as the driver turned into the Brown Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in London and one of the best as far as Seto was concerned.

"Of course not," he said, "but it pays to hear what they have to say. It's better to refuse them in person if they have a stupid idea."

"Well, aren't you a sweetheart. Can't send a polite letter, you just have to kick their teeth in when you get there."

"It helps me sleep at night." He motioned her out of the car and led the way up to their rooms.

"Penthouse suite," she said, looking around. "Nice."

"Yeah yeah, it's all caviar and scented sheets. I have work to do. Stay here and don't get into trouble."

"Kaiba." Solo dropped her bag on the sofa and put her hands on her hips.

"Kaiba!"

"_What_, Solo?" He barely turned enough to look at her.

"It's fair to say we don't like each other, right?"

"Waaaay more than fair."

"Fine. And we're both stressed and I'm only here to settle a bet, yadda yadda yadda. But I would appreciate it if you actually looked at me when you talked to me. I'm not one of your grunts. I'm my own woman and I won't be ignored by some stuck-up, rich kid."

Seto blinked then smirked and walked back over to her.

"Well, then you're in for a surprise, Ms. Solo. You're in my world now. The world of perverted old men leering at their toys and little boys yapping at the coat tails of every power that walks by. Women mean nothing here. They are trophies, not conversation partners, and certainly not equals."

"What about Elsa? She's the head of her own company."

"Yes, because she's slept with every major player in every company from here to Brazil. I wouldn't be surprised if she slept with Martha Stewart, and you see what happened to her."

"So you're saying I have no voice at all?"

"Unless you know something about politics or business, no. You're here to make me look good."

Solo raised her chin.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I guess I win the bet." Smirking, Seto walked back out into the hallway.

"Stay out of trouble."

"Jerk!"

~~*~~

Across the city, a young man with long pink hair and lavender eyes sat on an Edwardian love seat, a glass of red wine in his delicate left hand.

"Seto Kaiba has arrived, sir," said a sharply dressed maid. He nodded to her and she bowed out of the room.

"_Herr_ Kaiba, time for we titans to dance again." He took a sip of wine and leaned his head back. It had been over a year since his humiliating defeat at the KC Grand Championship, and while it still smarted, he'd managed to shove on and snatch Schroider Corp from the jaws of financial ruin. Kudos to him.

"Excited, Siegfried?"

He smiled at the approaching blonde woman. Her hair fell in perfect curls down her shoulders and she moved with the light pink skirt-suit as if she had been poured into it.

"As Odin is before a hunt. My dear Elsa, so good to see you."

"Of course." She came to run her hands along the back of the sofa. "So I hear Mr. Kaiba is bringing a guest. A young lady."

"Surely you're not disappointed."

"Of course not. I just thought he would come by himself. This girl does pose a problem."

"Hardly. She's probably just a local girl."

"A prom date!" Elsa laughed and moved to sit down next to him, kicking off her heels and folding her legs. "How droll."

"Oh now don't be rude, _Fraulein_. You know how important prom is to teenagers. Surely you haven't forgotten_ Fraulein_ Carrie?"

They shared a laugh and Siegfried set his glass down on the end table.

"I suppose if the girl becomes any kind of threat, I can just charm her away from him. You can handle _Herr_ Kaiba, yes?"

Elza smiled, a faint blush creeping up her neck.

"Yes, I can handle him."

"Good. Then it's settled. And of course, you'll talk to _Herr_ Kaiba in the morning at the board meeting." He drained the wine and stood up. "I have the utmost faith in you, little flower. But now I must leave you."

"I understand. You have work to do." Elsa watched him walk into his room to get changed, followed by the triumphant sounds of the Austrian opera. A good hour later, once Siefried had primped and polished to his satisfaction, the businessman left for the London branch of Schroider Corp. Elsa waited until even his footsteps died away before heading down to her car.

"Take me to the Brown Hotel," she ordered. Her driver nodded and she leaned back in her seat. One freshly manicured hand reached up to stroke the amethyst pendant around her neck. Her master had given it to her over six years ago with the promise that one day he would call on her. He finally did two months ago, asking her to personally draw young Seto Kaiba away from Domino City and keep him occupied. Her master didn't explain why or how, nor did he have to. So long as she took care of Kaiba, her master was happy. Then he'd called again a few hours ago to make sure everything was on track, which she assured him it was.

She arrived at the hotel at around four-thirty that afternoon. A few well-placed smiles later and she was on her way to the top floor, padding down the hallway like a model on a runway.

"Seto, darling." She knocked twice on the door. "Seto?"

The door opened to reveal a girl with jet-black hair in a loose ponytail and wide, amber eyes.

"Oh. This must be the wrong room. Do you know where Seto Kaiba's staying?"

The girl narrowed her eyes.

"Kaiba isn't here." She put an odd emphasis on Seto's last name but Elsa paid it no mind. The Japanese often called each other by their last names and only someone of great importance or great personal worth was allowed to use their given names. Strange, though. This girl didn't look Japanese.

"Well I'll only stay a minute then." Elsa brushed past her into the opulent suite, fiddling with the edge of her tailored gloves. It really was a gorgeous room, with elaborate crown molding and beautiful antique furniture of cherry wood and tapestry fabric. Quite worthy of its guest, but then, she expected Seto to book the best.

She turned on her heel and looked at this girl. She wore faded, low-cut jeans that were entirely too tight with a purple spaghetti strap tank top and a mismatched bra. A teenager, then. Someone from school or some local girl like Siegfried guessed.

"You must be Seto's…guest."

The girl folded her arms.

"So what?"

Elsa looked her up and down one more time.

"Do you know who's going to be at the gala tomorrow?"

"Lot of big wigs. So?"

"Ambassadors, businessmen, nobility, UN members. The best and brightest of every country from here to South America are gathering in one of the oldest, most illustrious mansions in the city. I wonder if you can handle that type of pressure."

"I can handle anything this city has to offer, Miss…"

"Elsa Seiler of Irmgard Incorporated." Elsa didn't offer her hand but neither did the girl. Instead, the girl walked to the door and held it open.

"I'll tell Kaiba you stopped by."

"Please do." She walked forward a couple steps and had to suppress a smirk when the girl backed up. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. _Ciao_."

Melody shut the door behind her and threw the lock closed. How dare that woman try and make a fool of her! She started pacing back and forth to the window, snarling at random pieces of furniture. Just because she wasn't some business tycoon or a far-removed member of Austrian nobility, this floosy with the noxious perfume that cost more than most people's houses had to try and make her feel stupid.

Of course, to be fair, her sister was always better at these things than she was. Or Ororo's daughter, Aliyah. And she'd never gone to a fancy dinner without at least her brother with her. But her brother and sister were over a million light years away, and Aliyah was busy in New York.

But it didn't matter. She could handle herself here. She'd walked in heels since she was two and had known what fork to use since she was old enough to use one without stabbing herself. That witch. She'll show her. She'll show Kaiba, too. They may see her as some naïve prom date with an IQ smaller than her bra size but she'd prove them wrong.

Still…UN members, nobility, businessmen. She didn't know anything about politics beyond what happened around Xavier's place and the only business guy she knew was Warren, and he tried not to talk about work when he was at the Mansion. Maybe she could call Katie. That girl loved these kinds of things, plus, she knew French. There was plenty of time for her to get here, even if she flew from New Orleans, and Melody could stay here at the hotel. That way, she'd still keep her word to Mokuba to look after Kaiba but she wouldn't have to go embarrass herself in front of all those people.

"Solo, open the door!" A sudden rapping startled her out of her thoughts. "Solo!"

She waved her hand, the lock turned over, and Kaiba came in with an irritated look on his face.

"Why did you lock the deadbolt?"

"Your little girlfriend came by. Elsa something-or-other. Charming woman. Can't wait to go shopping with her."

Kaiba groaned softly as he set his briefcase on the table.

"She's not my girlfriend. She's the heiress to a large, very powerful company after her older brother mysteriously disappeared."

"Disappeared."

"That's what the nice papers say anyway, and you already know what I think of her otherwise. What happened?"

"What happened? Oh, let's see. She belittled me, thought of me as your prom date, made me feel like an idiot."

"Well, that's how the game is played here, subtle insults and power plays. And stop pacing. You're distracting me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Melody plopped down in the chair next to him and he pointedly moved his briefcase and now open laptop a few inches away.

"Change of plan," she said. "How about we forget the bet, I call my friend, she goes in my place, and I stay here and…guard our stuff."

"Guard…our…stuff…" Kaiba leaned back in his chair. "You flinched, didn't you?"

"Did not!"

"Of course not. And you've been chewing on your thumb since I arrived because you like the taste."

Melody quickly put her hand down.

"Look, I just don't think I'm cut out for something this fancy. I'll find someone else to go."

"Solo, you made the bet, you offered to go, and I was under the perhaps ludicrous assumption that you actually kept your word. And this whole do-over thing is getting annoying. That's twice you've tried to erase what you've said or done in the eight days I've known you, and you've probably done it to other people when I wasn't around. It's juvenile and makes you sound like a complete flake."

"Now wait just—"

"I have work to do."

Her hackles rose at the dismissal and she stood up, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Fine. I'll go to this stupid dinner and face that disgusting woman again. But not because she scared me or you goaded me. I promised Mokuba I'd look after you and I may try and start over a lot but I don't lie to kids."

"I don't care if you're here because you had a dream about Marshmellons eating me in my sleep. So long as you hold up your end, I'm happy."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Melody stalked off then paused and turned around.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "Everyone there has some sort of agenda but none of them come out and say it. They just play other people against each other and speak out of both sides of their mouths."

"Even you?"

Kaiba turned to smirk at her over his shoulder.

"Especially me."

"So why go if everyone lies?"

"Let's just say, the one time I skipped one of these things, it didn't turn out well"

"Oh." Melody glanced down at the carpet. "I'm going to watch TV."

"Whatever." Seto waited until he heard her door shut before turning back to his laptop. He still remembered that day, when he heard that little Hong Kong business had been bought out by a rival Chinese company. Gozaburo had not been pleased and, as he hadn't been able to go himself, he blamed Seto for losing out on the young but influential technology of the smaller business. He was just two days shy of his fourteenth birthday when Gozaburo found out and as a birthday present, he gave Seto a million dollars to double within the year as well as three scars that wrapped around his left shoulder to his collarbone. Seto never skipped anything ever again. Since then, he'd gone to every party, dinner, gala, ball, fashion show, lunch, business meeting, informal rendezvous, and public event he was invited to and many he wasn't. Yugi and the rest of the Geek Squad gave him a hard time about never associating with people and never getting out of his office, but if he got out any more, he would have to apply for citizenship in over twelve countries.

Sighing, Seto ran a hand through his hair and put away his things. It wasn't even six yet but he'd had a long day and he had to be up early in the morning.

"Good night, Mokuba," he muttered, touching his locket. He'd call Mokuba after the meeting. He was too tired now.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_October 16_

Seto arrived at Irmgard Inc's office at eight-thirty the next morning, dressed in a charcoal gray suit and a dark blue shirt. Given the choice, he probably would have worn the black and white outfit from Battle City, or even the blue trench coat he took to Duelist Kingdom, but he was already the youngest CEO in the business. He didn't need to give the stiffs more proof he couldn't play the game.

The receptionist, an attractive brunette with eyelashes set to automatic flutter, sent him to the executive office on the top floor. On the way, fleur-de-lis, fresh flowers, silk plants, and models of every nationality assaulted his senses till he felt like he was practically drowning in estrogen. He tried his best to avoid stereotypes, as they were usually useless anyway, but, this time, he couldn't help but blame the buildings decor on its female CEO. Maybe all the frills were to make the place more inviting, like cream carpet and taupe hallways. Truthfully, it just made him gag.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you?"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes at the executive secretary's bubbly voice. This one was a little blonde with a bright smile and lacquered, jeweled nails. Not a model, but not office material. His was much better.

"I'm here to see Ms. Seiler."

"Yes, sir. She's expecting you. Right this way." Picking up her folder, the blonde led him to a large room with a long wooden table in the middle. Older men and women lined the sides, the majority shareholders, and Seiler sat at the far end. She stood when he entered and came to shake his hand before leading him to the other end of the table. Seto's already low opinion of her dropped a few more notches. In Japan, the guest of honor sat farthest from the door, while the least important person sat in front of the door. Granted, the woman was from Austria and this was a very westernized London but still, he had every right to walk out right now.

Instead, Seto sat down with a smile and set his briefcase by the foot of his chair.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Kaiba," said a gray-haired man on Seiler's right. "Ms. Seiler has briefed us on your most recent technological advances and I must say, we are very impressed."

"Thank you. I am very proud of my work."

"As well you should be." A white-haired woman with antique pearls on Seiler's left motioned to an aide in the corner and the girl, a frail, freckled brunette, began to pass out black folders. Seto noted her dark clothes and hair pulled back in a severe bun and realized that, unlike Seiler's aides, who were all paid to look good, this older woman's people were paid to disappear until she needed them. Old-school then, from the aristocratic families of Austria and Germany, which also meant old, established, influential money.

Seto took the folder from the girl with a nod then looked expectantly at Seiler. The woman hadn't said much since his arrival, choosing instead to lean on the arm of her chair and stare. It bothered him.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A proposal," replied the older woman. "If you all would turn to page three."

The woman took turns with the first man reading through the proposal while the lesser stockholders gave their inputs. Seto watched them speak, carefully noting their body language, facial expressions, even the different times they spoke. Seiler, in turn, watched him. Now he knew where he'd seen that look. It was on one of Mokuba's nature shows, the crocodile waiting to snap the zebra's neck.

At last, the woman closed her folder and Elsa leaned forward on the table with her hands folded.

"So what do you think, _Herr_ Kaiba?"

At least she didn't use his first name again. Not even Yugi had earned that right and he'd known the Kaiba brothers for almost three years.

"You're planning a tournament soon, are you not?" She smiled at him, pleased she knew so much. Seto smiled back and imagined fangs hiding behind his lips waiting to rip that smile off her face.

"Yes, hopefully."

"Well, in the event you do not want money for your virtual reality system, we are willing to fund and secure your next tournament."

"Oh?"

"A separate account will be set up in Kaiba Corp's name, in escrow, with a base amount of money and a sealed contract that assures our further support whenever and wherever you plan to host your next game."

Seto eyed her carefully.

"And your intentions with the equipment?"

"Training programs," said the first man. "The United States needs better, more realistic field simulations for training their troops."

"My virtual reality system is for gaming. I converted Kaiba Corp from a weapons manufacturer to a gaming company when my stepfather died."

"And we appreciate the profit you've made since then but we think it would be wise to combine our training software with your virtual reality pods."

"To train soldiers to kill and be killed."

"Now, Seto, don't be like that." Seiler smiled at him and Seto pinned her with a look. The next second, he toned it back, noting how the entire table looked at him the same way as Elsa. He was just a child in their eyes, a child that needed to grow up and play with the big boys now and forget his silly little card games.

"Ms. Seiler," he said, in the same tone, "perhaps you have forgotten my distaste for the military."

"Mr. Kaiba…" The first woman made to argue but Seto cut her off.

"I will not sell a system so that children my brother's age and younger can practice for wars that aren't theirs to begin with."

"This could save lives, Mr. Kaiba," another, younger man urged. "The better the training programs, the fewer casualties in the field. Your holographic and virtual technology is among the best in the world. The realism is unparalleled."

"No matter how realistic, they will still be pixels on a screen and numbers in a computer. Nothing can prepare those children for the act of actually taking someone's life. I will not turn real war into any more of a game than it already is."

Seto closed the folder, grabbed his briefcase, and stood up.

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Seiler, ladies, gentlemen, but I must respectfully decline. Good day to you."

He spun on his heel and walked out, their protests at his back. A few seconds later, he heard the hurried pocks of someone running in high-heels then felt a small hand on his arm.

"Seto, darling, wait."

"My name, Ms. Seiler, is Kaiba. You would do well to remember that. Goodbye."

Seiler's grip on his arm tightened.

"I have been planning this meeting for months. Please, just come back and talk with us. I am sure we can figure something out that would be satisfactory for all of us."

"'Satisfactory' would have nothing to do with military training programs."

"Seto….Kaiba." She paused, as if being forced to use his last name put a bad taste in her mouth. "Kaiba Corp has done phenomenally well as a gaming company, becoming a household name for thousands of children around the world. But your technology has so many other uses—"

"I am a gamer, Ms. Seiler." He took her hand off his arm. "I build theme parks and systems that work with card, video, and computer games. I do not fund or support new ways for people to die. See you at the party."

She opened her mouth to answer but he silenced her with a look and stalked off. The workers parted as if he'd strike them with lightening if they didn't move, except for one poor paperboy that had the bad luck to get on the same elevator with him. A minute of the suffocating silence and the boy ran off at the first available floor, stammering his apologies. Seto ignored him, walking straight to his car and snapping at the driver to take him back to the hotel. He should have expected this. No matter how many times he'd saved his company from hostile takeovers, or how many times he'd pulled himself out of the pits of bad publicity and plummeting economies, other CEOs still saw him as a child. They didn't look at Schroider like that, at least not that he knew of. But then, the pink-haired Austrian was old money, with a respected family and age-old connections with every aristocrat in Europe. Despite that, Seto had done his best to get in with as many important people as he could and it had paid off. Nobody talked about Schroider Corp as a company anymore; they just talked about Schroider himself.

But that didn't change his own, personal standing. He had a feeling they wouldn't respect him until he gained sixty pounds and lost all of his hair. According to them, it was time for him to grow up.

The problem was, he'd been 'grown up' since he was eight years old.

"We're here, sir."

Seto sighed and got out, heading up to his room with the same fast stride as before. It didn't matter. They may still think he was a young, naïve child, but he was a powerful child they had to play nice with. He could use that.

"Oh, hey, Kaiba." Solo's voice called to him from the couch as he opened the door. He grunted in response and she wrinkled her nose.

"That bad, huh?"

"Don't ask. Have you stayed out of trouble?"

"No, Kaiba. I've ordered over a hundred dollars worth of pay-per-view movies and eight carts of room service food."

Seto threw his briefcase on the table.

"Solo, I really don't need your sarcasm right now." He peeled off his jacket and threw it on the back of the dining room chair. "What are you doing?"

"Uh…research." Solo turned back to her laptop and hesitantly clicked a few keys. "I found a list of the guests that'll be there and I'm looking up little tidbits about them. Ya know, so I can follow the conversation a little better."

Seto raised an eyebrow at her, the tension in his shoulders easing a little.

"Research."

"I don't know much about politics and stuff, and after that _wonderful_ visit from your little friend, I thought I should read a little more." She turned to him with a look not unlike a little girl looking for approval. "I don't want to look stupid."

Seto folded his arms, his quick eyes catching headlines about political leaders and businessmen from magazines and various newspapers.

"How long have you been at this?"

"Um…few minutes after you left?"

He nodded once then frowned.

"They don't post a list for these kinds of parties. The press only speculates."

"Yeah, I know."

"So how did you…"

She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes and he shook his head. Okay, so she wasn't a complete idiot.

"I'm going to take a nap," he said, grabbing his things. "Don't wake me up—"

"Or you'll throw me out the window, I know. Oh, and Kaiba?"

"What?"

"Since I'm technically your date for this," she made a face like a cat with peanut butter on the roof of its mouth, "I thought it might be better if we called each other by our first names. I mean, I know in Japan it's not really proper but I know how important public image is at these things and if it looks like we're not together on this—"

"Fine."

She blinked.

"What?"

"It makes sense." And he had just yelled at that Seiler woman for calling him by his first name so allowing some girl with no connections or standing whatsoever to call him 'Seto' would annoy her to no end. Plus, giving a woman that kind of right either made her bought or important, and if Solo could handle the conversation, everyone would see her as important and he'd look even stronger.

"Fine," he said again. "But only for tonight."

"Okay. Uh…have a good nap then."

~~*~~

That night, Melody found herself actually excited about the party. Sure, she was nervous but, hey, she got to wear this gorgeous dress and do her hair and her make-up. She was still girly enough to enjoy that.

At five-thirty, she slipped into the one-shoulder gown of black velvet Mokuba had found, or, more likely, bought, for her. Rhinestones curved down from both her right shoulder and her left hip in a fan shape, lining the strap and the slit in the dress. The slit reached up to her thigh and, while she felt a little self-conscious, she had to admit she looked good. After strapping on the black velvet heels, she did a few twirls in front of the floor-length mirror in her room. Yeah, she looked really good.

Smiling to herself, she put on some dark eye shadow, making what Katie called a "smoky look," or something like that, and some dark red lip gloss. Then, after brushing her thick, black hair until it shone, she nodded to her reflection. She was ready. Glancing at the clock, she pouted a little. It was only six-fifteen. The party didn't start until eight, and Kaiba was probably still asleep. Sighing, she got up and checked her purse one more time. Her driver's license, some money, tissues, lip-gloss, and her cell phone—on light-up silence, of course. She didn't do the whole vibrate thing. To her ears, it was as loud as the actual ring tone.

No room for a weapon, though. Mokuba made sure the purse was as small and easy to hide, or lose track of, as possible. She twisted her mouth in thought.

_The garter belt!_ The girl ran to her suitcase and, after digging around in the pockets for a while, pulled out a black, nylon strap with velcro on the ends. Okay, so it wasn't a proper garter belt with the lace and sparkles and such, but it held a knife about five inches long, with a four-inch blade that was well-polished and sharp as a laser. With half her family in politics and the other half in the military as decorated officers, she'd learned a few things to do with a knife that didn't include skinning the fish she and her dad caught in the Anduin. A girl could never be too careful, after all. Especially with that Bakura guy after those kids.

Melody paused, one leg up on the vanity stool with the belt in her hands. Joey, Mai, Tristan's sister, Tea, that one white-haired kid…they didn't deserve this. Yugi, Atemu, and the rest had fought so hard for so long. Why would Bakura attack them now? What else could he possibly do?

She shook her head, strapped on the garter belt, then walked out into the living room. Reaching into her purse, she flipped on her phone as she sat down and after a few rings, a weary, deep voice answered.

"Hello, Kame Game Shop. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Atemu. How's it going?"

"Melody. I thought you were at the party."

"No, not for another couple of hours. Got all pretty. Now I have to sit around and wait for Mr. Sunshine to wake up."

"Is Kaiba treating you all right?"

She glanced at Kaiba's door, or Seto's door, as of tonight.

"Could be worse."

"Could be better?"

"Well, the threats haven't gone beyond throwing me out the window if I wake him up so…meh."

"You haven't killed him yet, have you?"

"No, not yet but it's taking all the patience I've got. How are things there?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Atemu?"

"Things are…in hand."

"You're lying."

"I was a Pharaoh, Melody. Lying is a key part of diplomacy."

"Aww, don't make me whine. I'll wake Kaiba up and then he'll be even worse than normal."

The Pharaoh chuckled but sobered quickly.

"Theresa—that's Tristan's sister—Joey, Tea, and Mai are all stable, but weak. Yugi's making himself sick trying to take care of them all, then worrying here, and I found Ryou with a fresh cut on his arm."

"Bakura?"

"Possibly. I called a friend in Egypt, Isis Ishtar, to see if she could help."

"Okay. Do you want me to call Ororo?"

"Yes, anything she has could help. Has anything happened there?"

"Not really. Met some…less than charming people earlier, but I'll take care of it."

"Be nice, Melody. We don't need an international incident on top of everything else."

Melody rolled her eyes and leaned back to stare at the ceiling fan.

"I'll be nice. For a little while."

"Melody."

"All right. I'll play nice. But I reserve the right to stand up for myself."

"Fine. Well…I'm going to try and get some things done here. Have fun at the party."

"Yeah. G'night, Atemu." She hung up then dialed Westchester, New York. As her luck would have it, Ororo wasn't in and Katie couldn't pick up anything new so Logan told her to keep an eye open and be careful. It was nothing she hadn't heard before so she chatted for a little while then hung up. Seven fifteen.

"Hey, Kaiba! You coming or what?"

"Shut up, Solo," he called back. "And I thought we were using first names."

"You first."

"Whatever." He walked out of his room and shut the door. "Are you ready, _Melody_?"

"Yup, have been for over an…hour." She slowly stood up, her jaw somewhere around her feet. While he may have worn a suit this morning, tonight, he'd picked black slacks, a black, silk button up shirt, and a black leather trench coat lined with red silk. He'd left the top two buttons of his shirt undone, just enough to show the cord for his locket around his neck but not enough to be indecent. A blood-red belt with a silver dragon carved into the buckle, and black dress shoes completed the outfit, making for a very powerful, very evil overall look.

Melody remembered a little late that her mouth was open and coughed into her hand.

"We're gonna be late."

Kaiba messed with his cuffs for a second then checked for his wallet in one coat pocket and his phone in the other. Looked like she wasn't the only one paranoid about being stranded.

"We'll be right on time," he said. "People never arrive early for these things. They don't stay any longer then they have to."

"Oh. So," she stepped around the couch, "will this work?"

Seto looked her up and down, taking almost too long about it. She felt her skin warm slightly but he went back to messing with his coat before he could see.

"That's fine."

"I'm trying to show up that blonde chick, blue eyes. I'm looking for a little more than 'fine.'"

"If you can hold a conversation without throwing yourself at someone for longer than ten minutes, you'll have already gone leagues beyond her. Ready?"

"Yes, I told you. I have been."

"Then let's go." Kaiba led her out to the car, surprisingly holding the door open for her, and thirty-five minutes later, they pulled up to a beautiful manor out in the country. Graceful columns and hundreds of fresh flowers greeted them as they filtered into the manor, the other guests clad in more jewels and furs than Melody had seen for a while.

"Show time," she muttered. Kaiba nodded and held open the door for her again. At her questioning look, he gave an imperceptible shrug.

"I have to be a gentleman."

"Oh, so this is a just-tonight thing too?"

"Of course."

"Figures."

He offered her his arm with a smile, to which she struggled not to laugh as she took it.

"It's weird seeing you smile," she said quietly.

"Just shut up and don't embarrass me," he said, smiling at a random guest. "Remember, we have a bet going."

"Don't worry." Melody daintily climbed up the stairs, her skirt held up with two fingers. "Just don't treat me like a trophy."

"Well, that depends on you, doesn't it?"

"_Herr_ Kaiba, how good to see you."

They both looked up to see Elsa in a gold, floor-length gown with a bow on the right shoulder. Melody thought it was just this side of Vegas showgirl attire but she got distracted by the heady perfume Elsa had poured over herself. It made the dark-haired girl almost gag.

"And who is this?" Elsa asked. Melody smiled and held out her hand.

"Oh, don't you remember me? I'm Melody Solo. We met yesterday afternoon. Thank you so much for coming to see me. I would've been lost without you."

Elsa smiled in return, a cheesy, forced smile that regular people can buy at Wal-Mart, and shook Melody's hand.

"It's a pleasure to have you both. Please, enjoy yourselves."

She ushered them into the ballroom, where the other guests wandered around making small talk and waiters wandered between them serving appetizers and drinks.

"So you made it through the front door," Kaiba muttered. "But the most awkward topics come up at dinner, and it's at least seven courses you have to sit through."

"Don't worry about me, blue eyes." Melody smiled up at him and closed her eyes like she'd seen anime chibis do. "Just don't start a food fight and we'll be good."

"Yes, because that's totally something I would do."

The butler announced the guests as they entered the dining room at eight-thirty exactly and Seto and Solo went to their seats near the head of the table. Traditionally, they would have sat at opposite ends of the table, but there was no way he was going to let this _gaijin_ sit by herself. Elsa probably just thought it was a crush or his infamous sense of possessiveness when she approved his request for a different seat.

Their benevolent hostess stood at the other end of the table. Seto's eye twitched slightly in annoyance when he saw a certain Austrian duelist seat Seiler then move to their end of the table. The pink-haired man, dressed in a tailored maroon suit, smiled at him and sat down.

"Hello, _Herr_ Kaiba," he said easily. "So nice to see you among London's finest."

"Siegfried," Seto said, nodding. "I didn't expect to see you among anyone's finest."

"Charming, as always. And who is your lovely friend?"

"This is Melody Solo," Seto glanced back at her. "Melody was kind enough to accompany me tonight. Melody, this is Siegfried von Schroider of Schroider Corp. I've known Siegfried for almost seven years now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Solo said, offering Schroider a sympathetic smile. He just laughed.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

"Right. Oh, and I was very sorry to read about your brother."

Schroider's mouth tensed and he nodded slowly.

"Thank you, _Fraulein_. It has been a very hard year since the cancer took Leon…"

He saw Solo tense though she managed to keep her face relatively relaxed.

"But Elsa," Schroider went on, "a good friend of the family, has helped me a great deal. In fact, she's managed some of the company's more profitable assets so that now, our companies can merge for the better protection of our troops."

Seto looked sharply at him and Schroider smirked.

"I'm sorry. You were too late, _Herr_ Kaiba. I have already secured the contract with both Irmgard Incororated and the United States Armed Forces, courtesy of the lovely Ms. Elsa."

The other guests applauded him and he nodded in recognition.

"Yes, I am very pleased. In return, I have agreed to host this little party. It is the least I can do."

Seto took a drink of his wine, his mind working quickly. That kind of contract would take more than an afternoon to build and finalize, so Schroider must have already made the deal with Seiler and the US before she had even called about the meeting this morning. Unless she had just told Siegfried he had the contract and not actually made it. He knew his technology was far superior to Schroider Corp's and the majority shareholders didn't sound like they were playing a part. They were lying, sure, but not about this. They genuinely wanted him to bite and get things rolling with Kaiba Corp.

And Schroider was hosting this party? With such important guests and exotic food, this dinner must have set him back hundreds, maybe thousands. If she could manipulate him like that, making him believe she had this great deal for him and convince him to put out that kind of money, what else could she make him do?

Just then, Schroider turned his attention back to Solo and Seto blinked back to the present.

"Enough about me," Schroider said, "Ms. Melody, allow me to introduce my friends. This is Mr. Percy Brown, a colleague of mine from Oxford, Mr. Charles Weston II, an ambassador from Her Royal Court and his guest, Arielle, and Mr. Warren Worthington III of Worthington Enterprises and his guest, Marianna."

Seto nodded to them all but noticed Solo looking at Worthington a little longer than the others. Shocker. Worthington was the youngest CEO until Siegfried, and then Seto came to power, and had been known as a prolific playboy for years. The man was pure Aryan, with the typical wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and fine features associated with that blood. Seto noted the attractive redhead at his elbow and mentally ran through the man's various guests. That woman made number twelve this year, if he was actually going out with her. Number thirty-six if she was a random date.

Worthington's private life aside, Seto remembered he'd gotten quite a bit of press when he publicly announced that he supported mutants ten years ago. The company endured years of terrorist attacks from such radical groups as the Friends of Humanity, and the United States government even launched a formal investigation against Worthington. The blonde was able to convince the US government that he had no interest in contesting the well-established Mutant Registration Act or the Superhero Registration Act, but by then, most of his stockholders had already left. Others came in to support the rash blond but Worthington Enterprises still hadn't regained the strength it once had.

The other men he knew from a few other parties. Brown was an insurance broker better known for his love of drinking than his head for numbers and Weston was one of the few politicians in Parliament or anywhere else that still had some sort of moral code. It cost him, as all morals did eventually, but Seto had noticed from the three times he'd talked to him, that the man talked _to_ people, not down at them. This party must be as annoying to him as it was to Seto.

"So what do you do, Ms. Solo?" Weston asked. Solo smiled her thanks to the server who brought their first course before turning to the gray-eyed councilman.

"I'm a writer, mostly. Historian, critic, fantasy author, the typical nerd."

"The nerds never looked quite so lovely at my high school," Brown said, raising his glass to her and taking a drink. Solo just took a bite of her salad.

"I'm sure we were there somewhere. I am eating with the right fork, aren't I?"

"I know how you feel," Arielle said. "I never understand why they have so many different forks. They all do the same thing, don't they?"

They shared a laugh and the small talk continued. Seto watched them all carefully, especially his so-called guest. She didn't look nervous at all, even turning an etiquette question into a relatable joke. Maybe he should have done a little digging before he'd made that bet. But he didn't think he'd see her again outside of school. He should've known though. Nothing in his life was ever that simple.

The conversation turned to the touchy subject of mutant relations with the serving of the ninth course and while it wasn't technically proper dinner conversation, Brown had broached the topic. Since a man released the hounds, as it were, anyone could contribute.

Anyone.

"What do you think, Ms. Solo?" Weston asked. Seto watched Solo out the corner of his eye as she took a sip of her wine. Seto knew it would turn to the "mutant problem" eventually. Everything always did. What race was to the old century, species was to this one. Everyone had their own opinion about what to do about mutants, how countries should handle this new species of human and their "powers," but people rarely spoke too radically out in public. That's how fights broke out.

"I think," Solo said slowly, "that stereotyping against mutants is as unfair as stereotyping against people with AIDS."

Bold, very bold. But not altogether untrue.

"So you admit it's a disease," Brown pressed.

"I admit it's treated like one."

"And it's being treated," Weston said. "Didn't the British prime minister's daughter undergo the reversal process last month? And the son of the Duke of Windsor two years ago?"

"And did they tell you the children had to be sedated?" Solo asked.

"How do you mean?" Schroider queried.

"I mean that last year alone, 274,000 preteens and teenagers underwent that supposed 'treatment' and seventy-eight percent of them were from families who would be either politically or financially ruined if the general public discovered they had a mutant child. Over half of that number had to be drugged or sedated because they didn't want to change."

Seto had to remind himself how to swallow. Not once since the topic arose had Marianna or Arielle said a word, and here this annoying _gaijin_ was spitting out statistics as if she'd discovered them herself. Who was this girl?

"It's nothing personal, my dear." Another man—a United Nations aide?—who sat across and to the side of her took a large bite of his fish then took a drink of wine. "It's just good business."

"Business." Solo set her fork down on her plate and Seto felt the air drop a few degrees. "Mr. Worthington's company still brought in 8.23 billion dollars last quarter, even with all the bad publicity of his endorsing mutants and the fact that his company isn't considered 'powerful' anymore."

Here, Worthington nodded, impressed and apparently content to let her argue the same point he'd been making for years.

"But judging from the comments I've heard," Solo went on, "I'd be willing to bet very few companies at this table had any part in that 8 billion dollars. Now tell me, what part of that prejudice counts as good business?"

The table went quiet. Melody flushed and turned back to her food, but missed the amused look on Seto's face.

"Well," Schroider said, catching Seiler's eye. "That was all very educational. Shall we adjourn to the ballroom for desserts and coffee?"

Everyone got up, their end of the table relieved to be free of the touchy mutant/non-mutant politic, and streamed into the other room. Seto slipped through the crowd to Melody, who had practically fled the room, and stepped up behind her.

"I had no idea you were so passionate about politics."

Melody jumped slightly then scowled at some random passerby.

"I'm passionate about child abuse. I don't give a roach's right leg about politics."

He took her elbow and carefully steered her into the ballroom.

"Could've fooled me."

"Don't tell me I actually impressed you."

"All right, I won't." The orchestra took the stage and Seto held out his hand. "Dance with me."

Melody looked at his hand then smirked.

"Fine."

She took his hand and as he led her out onto the dance floor, Seto noticed two things. One, the dress fit her exceptionally well, and two, she didn't like following. She could dance well enough but he could feel some annoying resistance in her back and arms.

"This would be easier if you let me lead," he said.

"Don't see how. We're doing the same dance, aren't we?"

"Yes, but traditionally, the man controls the dance."

"Yeah well," Melody forced him into twirling her before letting him put his hand back behind her. "I've never been one for tradition."

"So I've noticed." He gave her a slightly exasperated look when she refused to move her leg. "You're making this difficult."

"Oh? I thought I was doing a pretty good job."

"For a _gaijin_." He twirled her, catching her a little closer than before, then grinned over her shoulder. Schroider narrowed his eyes at him from across the dance floor, barely paying any attention to the model in his arms.

Melody stiffened, glancing back.

"Oh uh-uh! I'm not your pawn." She tried to pull away but he held her tighter. "Let me go. I don't want to dance anymore."

"Wait until the end of this dance."

"No, Kaiba, _now_."

"A tantrum, Ms. Solo? Do those heels come in adult sizes?"

Melody glared up at him and he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline. He opened his mouth to respond when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Pardon me, _Herr_ Kaiba." Siegfried smiled a very fake, very challenging smile. "_Fraulein_, may I have this dance?" He never once looked at Melody until she stepped into his arms with another glare at Seto. The dragon duelist eyed them both for a long moment then turned and started looking for another partner.

He could've handled that better. A lot better. He needed them to see that he could keep his cool, no matter where he was or whom he was with. It shouldn't matter how difficult someone like Melody decided to be. He sighed. Fine. Schroider won this round, but he would not win another one.

"Seto, darling!"

Seto forced himself to smile at the advancing blonde.

"Ms. Seiler."

"Oh, _Herr_ Kaiba, you'll forgive me, won't you?"

No, but he couldn't say that. Seiler glanced pointedly at the dance floor and he held out his hand.

"Would you like to dance?"

She laughed, acting as if she was completely surprised he would deign to ask her, and followed him to the dance floor. Touching her made his skin crawl but he was a professional. And at least Seiler followed his lead.

"So are you enjoying yourself, darling?" Seiler asked.

"It's a beautiful party," he replied. "I was intrigued to hear about Siegfried's contract with you. Congratulations."

Seiler smiled up at him, her eyes bright and mischievous.

"There's still time."

"I gave you my answer before, Ms. Seiler."

"Yes, you did. Come with me, dear. I'd like to talk with you. Alone."

Just then, he spotted Schroider dip Melody, making her laugh, and he narrowed his eyes. Setting his jaw, he turned his focus back to the woman in his arms.

"I'd love to."

Melody watched the two of them leave the dance floor and closed her eyes halfway. Something didn't feel right but she couldn't place it.

"You look troubled, little flower," Siegfried said amiably. "Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

"Of course," she answered with a smile. "I was just thinking about the other guests. I haven't met most of them before."

"Ah, well, I have but between the two of us, I don't remember most of their names."

"Really? I don't feel so bad then, thank you."

"Think nothing of it. Now, how, may I ask, do you know my dear friend Kaiba?"

She started to say 'school' but that would just make them sound even younger and she got the feeling Kaiba was trying to fight that.

"We met in Domino," she said. "I've been helping his brother."

Pain flickered in his eyes but it vanished within seconds and he smiled. Melody felt her hands start to burn. She'd seen people try to hide their hurt before but this was different. Those people didn't feel quite this…airy. She didn't know how to describe it but something about his smile unnerved her, as if he wasn't even there to mean it.

Swallowing, she asked, "How do you know him?"

"It was at a party much like this one," he responded, "both of us young and idealistic. I counted him as one of my friends for many years."

"Don't you anymore?"

"No. I'm afraid the competition of commerce created a rather large rift between us. No matter though. We are both professionals, after all, and we are above such petty grudges."

Noble words but Melody's hands suddenly felt slimy and, for the first time, she wished Seto were around.

~~*~~

"May I ask where we're going?" Seto followed the Austrian woman down the hallway, the music and fake laughter of the party growing fainter as they went.

_Left, right, left, left, straight_…His quick eyes picked out a few landmarks on the way, an overdone flower arrangement, a white and pink vase the size of a small child, a painting of an old man in full military regalia. At last, they reached a small library. Bookshelves lined the walls, properly dusted and sorted, but Seto bet that nobody had read any of them in years. An antique rolling ladder stood by the door, its brass wheels hugging the bar that went around the room.

A desk sat at the far window bearing a two-foot tall lamp with a stained glass shade. Tiffany's, or, more likely, a very good imitation. The tiny light bulb cast a weak glow, reaching only five or six feet in every direction, and Seto felt uneasy knowing he couldn't see the corners of the room. He shifted his weight, feeling the comforting outline of a knife in the inside pocket of his coat. On a good day, he could get it out and open in two point four seconds. On a bad day, a little over three. Watching Seiler walk over to the desk, he wasn't sure if today was good or bad.

"I admire the strength of your convictions, _Herr_ Kaiba." She turned to look at him, standing so the light gave her a soft, delicate halo. "That is such a rarity these days. You have grown into a fine young man. I will be frank, Seto. I need you."

"You have Schroider."

"Siegfried is…not the man he once was." She set her handbag on the desk and turned back to him. She pulled at the neckline, sliding the over dress off her shoulders. The under dress, a spaghetti strap gown cut much lower than the other, looked painted on and she was…very gifted.

"Ever since his brother died, he has become obsessed with beating you, even more so than before. He doesn't sleep, he barely eats…I hear him wandering the halls at night, talking to Leon as if he were still alive. I indulge his fantasies because he has the resources I need, but we both know he could never touch you."

"I'm flattered." Seto did his best to ignore the blatant display and focused on her face. "But is there a point to this?"

"My point is Siegfried is weakening. We both know your company has the superior product. Together we could make millions, do anything we pleased, have anything we wanted." She stood right before him now, gazing up at him with dark, hungry eyes.

"For my help," he said, "you'd give me half the kingdom."

She smiled.

"Exactly."

"Mmm." He allowed himself a small smirk. "Not interested."

"Then what does interest you?" She took another step, close enough now that he could feel the cloud of heat coming off her body. He set his jaw.

"No thanks, Ms. Seiler. I have my problems, but an Oedipus complex is not one of them."

Her beautiful face darkened with a rage not even her make up could conceal and her mouth twisted into an ugly line.

"You worthless, ungrateful—"

"Good night." Seto turned to leave but she caught his arm.

"I could destroy you! How will your convictions help you then? What will your brother do when he finds out you two have to share a cardboard box down on the street?"

Seto wrenched away. In a perfect world, he would wrap his hand around her throat and choke the threats right out of her. But bruises show up a little faster than threats. Clenching his teeth, Seto glared at her and yanked the door open. Without another word, he stormed down the hall to the ballroom. She called for him but he kept walking, his trench coat billowing behind him.

That disgusting whore. Why was she so desperate that he take this offer? No deal was this important, not even a military contract worth at least three countries. No, something else was going on. He needed to find Melody and, if God didn't hate him today, they'd get out of this city before anything else happened.

But Melody wasn't in the ballroom. Not long after Seto and Elsa left, the girl had grown nauseous from Siegfried's cologne and excused herself to the ladies' room. Now she stood in front of the mirror in the handicapped stall. A fine layer of sweat shone on her forehead and a small ring of yellow glowed around her amber and gold eyes. Too close. She had come entirely too close to snapping at Siegfried then her entire cover would be blown. They would find out she wasn't fit to be here, by their standards, and, of course, she'd lose the bet.

Leaning over the sink, Melody turned on the cold water and let it run over her fingers before splashing her face. She had been taught by the best masters from the Wood of the Lady of the Light to the Outer Rim. She knew better than this. She had better control. Shaking her head, she turned off the water and dried her hands.

Just then, the door swung open and she heard a pair of heels clacking on the floor. The stall at the far end swung open then closed, and an angry, female voice whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry, Master."

Elsa. Melody could hear the faint buzz of a cell phone and a deep, male voice on the other end of the line. No words, though. The volume was too low and she was too far for that.

"I failed. He rejected me. Yes, I did everything I could. He didn't want the money, the power, not even…I'm sorry, Master."

Master. Who could possibly be powerful enough for this arrogant woman to call 'master'? And the 'not even' part…Melody narrowed her eyes. She could smell Elsa's perfume, thick, heady, mixed with a strange, watery, musky scent. She wrinkled her nose, bile rising in her throat. Gross.

"Yes, Master, I'll take care of it. They will not reach Japan."

Melody slipped on the door, squeaking her hand against the metal.

"Who's there?"

_Sithspawn!_

Elsa raced past the other stalls, shoving doors open as she went. She got to the handicapped stall and pushed the door open so hard it bounced against the wall. Finding nothing, she nodded and walked out.

When the ladies' room door creaked shut, Melody released her hold on the ceiling and landed a bit shakily on her heels. Her heart thudded in her chest. She could still taste the woman's malice on the air, feel her anger in the crackle of the lights. She swallowed and quickly left the restroom.

"Hiding already?"

She whirled to see Seto leaning against the wall and the nausea vanished almost instantly.

"Seto! I mean…where were you?"

Seto grinned at her quickly hidden enthusiasm and straightened up.

"Did Siegfried drool on you while I was gone?" He motioned to her damp hands and face.

"Why?" She asked, flipping her hair. "Are you jealous?"

"Hnh. Hardly." He turned towards the ballroom. "Come. The circus beckons."

"I heard something while I was in the bathroom. Elsa was talking to someone. She sounded angry."

"What did she say?"

"Something about…"

Another guest walked by and Seto pulled her in close as if they were lovers stealing a moment away. Melody froze, her breath gathering in the hollow between his coat-collar and his chest.

"She-she said she'd tried everything," she whispered. "Money, power, and… something else."

"Yes, she tried to seduce me earlier."

Melody's eyes flashed yellow. She swallowed and took a deep breath, then nearly coughed. He smelt of dark, rich cologne, soap, and a muskiness she'd never scented before. She started feeling hot and she didn't like it.

"I um…she said she would take care of it and that the guy she was talking about would never reach Japan. She was talking about you, right? That meeting this morning?"

Seto looked at his watch.

"It's eleven forty-five. The party ends at midnight."

"Then let's leave. Fifteen minutes isn't that long."

"Fifteen minutes marks the difference between winning and losing. If we leave now, she's won."

"What about Siegfried?"

"Siegfried." Seto looked sharply at her. "You're on first name basis now?"

"Don't start. I just meant that—"

"Schroider is a puppet. He's gone mad since his brother's death and Seiler's using that to her advantage."

"That's why he felt weird."

Seto let her go and, placing her hand around his arm, led her slowly back to the ballroom.

"How fast can you change?" he asked.

"Ten minutes."

"I may be a child, but in this game, we all play by the same rules. We leave after their closing comments." His voice dropped as they walked among the other guests to the edge of the dance floor. "Be ready to leave fifteen minutes after we get back to the hotel. We leave London tonight."

The closing comments, as he called them, lasted about ten minutes, during which Schroider thanked Seiler and various other guests for their contributions to tonight. Seto felt Melody grow increasingly tense at his side.

"Stop fidgeting," he muttered. She glared up at him but he kept watching Siegfried. No, he wasn't the man he used to be. He was insufferable, annoying, and just as pretentious, but it all seemed too much like an act. It put Seto even more on edge and he watched the other guests carefully as they began to file out. He'd made a dangerous enemy tonight. Before, he had just refused a lucrative business offer. Now, he'd insulted a powerful woman used to getting her own way. Adrenaline surged through his system as they headed to the car.

"Ten minutes," he reminded her. Melody nodded.

"I'll only need eight."

"Mr. Kaiba and his guest have just left." The servant bowed once and walked out, leaving Elsa to stare out the window of her study. The other guests poured out of the mansion, each with a sleek, expensive car to pick them up, and within the next fifteen minutes, everyone would be gone.

The blonde reached up to touch the stone at her neck.

_Hurry_…She heard her master's voice whisper to her in the stillness. _Hurry!_

She thought for a moment, then a small smile pulled at her lips.

"And so the young Joseph fled Potiphar's wife with nary a stitch on. But Joseph was sent to prison for twenty years, Mr. Kaiba. I don't think you have that long."

She reached for the intercom on her desk and pressed line two.

"Your turn, James. And I will be very disappointed if you fail."

"Yes, ma'am."

~~*~~

One more run through, one more call to Domino. The call to get the jet ready had jarred Carl Lansing out of a deep sleep involving Tyra Banks in a field somewhere, but for the boss to call at this time of night, there was a good reason. Mr. Kaiba never put his people out in the cold. He berated them, harangued them within an inch of their sanity, but he firmly believed in taking care of his workers so they could do their jobs. For him to want to fly at one in the morning, when he knew Carl wouldn't be able to sleep much from jetlag, the kid must be in a pretty good bind.

Just then, movement outside caught his eye and he looked out the window. A man about his height in coveralls stood waving at him.

"Just a sec," Carl called. He came out to the little man with a quizzical expression.

"What's up?"

"Good evening, Mr. Lansing," he said crisply. "I noticed you had your engines running, everything all right?"

"Yup. Just makin sure she's up to snuff."

"Ah well, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I checked her out? Safety regulations, standard procedure, you know the drill."

"Got any ID?"

The little man pulled out his card and showed it to him. Carl nodded.

"Okay, go ahead." He led him around to the entrance hatch. "Sorry if I'm a little touchy. Workin for Mr. Kaiba'll do that to ya."

"Oh, I hear you."

They went into the cockpit and the little man checked all the readings. Carl leaned on the wall with his arms folded.

"I'm real careful about everything on here; there shouldn't be any problems."

"Yes, everything seems to be in order." The little man stood up holding his far hand close to his leg. Something black glinted in the stadium-like lights.

"Cool, thanks. Hey, what you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

Carl hit the ground with a hole through his forehead, his eyes still open in shock.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_October 16-17_

Seto and Melody reached the tarmac forty-five minutes after they left the party, dragging their luggage onto the jet. He had changed into the leather pants from Battle City, a black turtleneck, and a white trench coat, while she had changed into jeans, a tight Jack Sparrow t-shirt, and a white hoody. True to her word, Melody had only taken about five to eight minutes at the hotel, but Seto rushed her until the door of the jet snapped closed.

"I gotta get whatever dictionary you're using to turn ten minutes into ten seconds," Melody panted. "Do you think we made it?"

"We'll see." Seto tapped sharply on the door to the cockpit. "Let's go, Carl."

Within minutes, they pulled out and Seto threw himself onto the couch.

"Same threat goes," he said, closing his eyes.

"No window."

"There's an escape hatch."

Melody rolled her eyes and went to lie down on the other couch. Today wasn't all that bad. She won the bet, showed up a few snots, and they got away safely. She yawned and stretched loudly until he told her to shut up.

She grinned and rolled over. _Punk_.

~~*~~

"One more to go."

Ryou whimpered in his sleep while the reflection in the window watched him with weary red eyes. The boy looked so innocent, so gentle. And so determined to die. Bakura's eyes traveled to the fresh bandages on the boy's legs. He'd had to use some Shadow Magic to mend those cuts but he'd managed to stop the bleeding without too much trouble.

He never used to be suicidal. But then, he didn't always have a vengeful spirit in the back of his head either. Bakura's hands ached to touch something, anything, with his own skin, his own bones. He could only live through Ryou but the boy was weakening. Another minute and he would have died. Bakura couldn't keep using him.

Glancing at the moon, the thief sighed. He could imagine he felt the warm breeze of the desert ruffling his hair, smell the thick scent of camels, hear the bustle of the marketplace. He had a body then. He had a life.

He looked back at Ryou.

"One more to go, _yadonushi_. Then you can rest forever."

Across the city, Yugi's cheek slipped off his wrist for the tenth time in the last hour. The nurse came in to hand him a pillow and a blanket.

"Why don't you go home, dear?" she asked. Yugi shook his head, taking the blanket and pillow with a weak grin.

"No, they need me." He looked towards the hospital bed where Tea laid wrapped in plaster and IV tubes. Past her bed, he could see Mai's form through the thin curtain. The doctors thought she'd feel better near a friend but she hadn't said a word since they brought her in two days ago. Joey was down the hall. Maybe visiting him would help him stay awake.

Stretching, Yugi wrapped the blanket around him, picked up the pillow, and went to check on Joey.

_I hope Yami finds something soon_.

~~*~~

_Siberia, Russia, 3:00am._

Seto opened one bleary eye as the cockpit door slid open. The pilot stood there, still completely suited up, helmet and all, and he was tapping his finger on something.

"Carl?"

The man merely bowed his head slightly and motioned to the bathroom. Seto fell back on to the seat, asleep again within minutes. The man allowed himself a small sigh of relief. That had been a little too close for comfort.

Shouldering his pack, he carefully crept past both Kaiba and his little date. The man blew a kiss at the two teens and opened the door into the cargo hold, then the outside hatch for the luggage. The sun had risen a few hours ago, casting a pale light over the treetops. Yeah, this looked like a good spot. This many trees would probably rip a plane up like tissue paper. And even if they did survive the crash, there was no way they could survive the cold long enough to get to civilization.

He checked his parachute one last time and glanced down at the controller in his left hand. He pressed a small button at the top of the controller and put it in his pocket. Then he took a deep breath…and jumped.

Back in the cockpit, a little red light blinked on.

_"Please! Please, just leave me alone!" She slipped on a large pile of slush and hit her knees. She caught her self with her hands. The slush between her fingers turned hot and sticky._

_The tiger roared behind her. She struggled to her feet, her heart pounding in her ears. The muscles in her legs burned, screaming for her to stop. Glancing back, she saw blood filling her footprints. Her skin chilled. Thick, ruby red liquid poured down her side, trailing down her legs to the snow. Tears stung her eyes. She could hear the tiger gaining. Every night gaining, gaining._

"_No."_

_The earth rumbled beneath her feet and she fell hard on her side._

_"No, please!"_

_The tiger roared again._

"_Somebody wake me up!" _

Melody jerked awake with a sharp gasp and hit the floor. Sweat soaked her shirt. Tears stained her face. Chilled air blasted through the cabin and she shivered. That stupid dream again. She hadn't told Tea everything. She hadn't told her about the blood, the ache, how cold and tired she was. And that vision of the bloody hands back at the Kaiba Mansion. What had that been about? Thinking back, she couldn't really think of any one thing that scared her. She hunted all the time. Blood was normal. But somehow the entire dream still terrified her. And every night, something new would appear. Like the boulder and the earthquake. Those were both new, and, no doubt, the earth would actually crack tonight. She hoped she didn't fall in. Falling dreams were always the worst.

Another blast of cold air washed over and she got up to try and find where it was coming from. Nobody would've opened a window at this altitude and she seriously doubted Seto would've turned on the air conditioner that much. So where—?

Some kind of whooshing sound drew her to the cargo hold and she shivered again. What in the world? Why would the cargo hatch be open? Unless…

"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no…"

She hurried back to the cockpit.

"Hello? Mr. Pilot? What's your name—Carl? Carl, you up here?"

Empty. No co-pilot, no crew, nothing. Melody felt her stomach knot.

"Hey, Seto! Seto, wake up!"

Back in the main cabin, she heard Seto fall off the couch and swear at her.

"This had better be good, Solo!"

"Nobody's flying this plane, smart-aleck! I'd say that's pretty good!" She climbed into the pilot's seat and checked the gauges.

"What?" Seto hurried up behind her.

"Just what I said. There's no pilot up here and the cargo hold's open."

"What?!" He swore under his breath and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "It's set on auto-pilot."

"I figured that." She flipped a couple switches and picked up the headphones. "Anywhere on this heap he could just hide?"

"No. I mean, yes, but I think I saw him earlier. He had his gear on." He looked sharply at her. "His gear…"

"Don't tell me he ditched us."

"There's no one else on this thing."

"I told you not to tell me that! What's the call number for Kaiba Corp?"

"And here I thought you knew everything." His leg brushed up against something and he looked down underneath the controls.

"Dude! Call numbers!"

At the sight of a small black box taped to the underside of the flight panel, Seto jumped up.

"Move, Solo!" He grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the cockpit.

"Gah! What is it?!"

"Bomb, genius!" Grabbing his briefcase, he tossed her the duffel bag and opened the closet with the parachutes.

"Empty. Wonderful."

No sooner had those words left his mouth than the little red light went out and the entire plane blew in half.

~~*~~

"I still cannot figure this out." Atemu rubbed his temple and threw the latest scrolls on his desk. "What are you after, Bakura? Why are you hurting us?"

"Yami, come quick!" Mokuba called from the living room. Atemu hurried in and the boy turned the volume up on the television. A prim woman sat at the desk, dressed in a powder blue suit with an empathetic expression on her face.

"Today is a tragic loss for gamers all around the world. This morning, Seto Kaiba's jet went down over Russia. The world-renowned duelist was heading home from England when the aircraft experienced engine trouble and crashed in the Siberian tundra. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the wreckage but no survivors have been found. Our hearts go out to Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba, who is now sole owner of Kaiba Corp."

Mokuba switched the television off, his lower lip trembling.

"They were supposed to get back tomorrow. Melody was going to take care of him." He looked up at Atemu with watery eyes. "I thought…if she was with him…"

"Oh child…" The Pharaoh put his arms around Mokuba and held him tight. "I'm sorry, little one. But there's no proof that your brother's actually…they didn't find any survivors but they also didn't find any bodies."

"Hey…that's right…" Mokuba lifted his head. "They've thought he was dead before…during Duelist Kingdom…and Dartz…"

"That's right." Atemu ruffled the boy's hair. "Your brother is a survivor, and notorious for exceeding people's expectations. Do not give up hope yet."

"But the wreckage…"

"Do you really think something as ignoble as a plain crash will really kill him? Your brother is nigh unkillable. Keep your chin up."

Atemu's cell phone rang and he patted the boy on the head before going into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Have you seen the news?" Yugi asked. Atemu could hear the nurses' station in the background and he made a sympathetic face at the carpet. The King of Games hadn't been home in two days.

"Yes, I saw it."

"How's Mokuba?"

"All right, considering. I would not worry too much. This is not the first time Kaiba's life has been in danger. He has a knack for not wanting to die."

"Yeah. Poor Mokuba, though. Kaiba's like a father to him and to have this happen after everything else—"

Atemu's blood ran cold. Father. Of course!

"Yugi, thank you. I have to go." He quickly hung up and, dialing Isis, ran back into his room. The phone rang twice then the Egyptian woman picked up.

"Isis, what do you know about collection spells?"

"Collection spells? Only the dark arts use collection spells. They use them to construct something, barriers, other spells, special types of summons. But they have to gather certain emotions for the ritual to work."

"Like suffering?"

"Have you found something?"

"I think so. Sister, lover, brother, friend, and now father…"

"Father?" A pause. "Kaiba's jet."

Atemu picked up a print out of a star covered with Latin incantations.

"The five points of a pentagram. My father's court and mine used such arrangements in Kemet for the four cardinal directions then one to honor the sun."

"Yes, but most required some kind of…sacrifice."

"A pure sacrifice." The Pharaoh glanced back out at Mokuba, who sat hugging a pillow tight to his chest. "Ryou's in danger."

"So is Mokuba. The news of Kaiba's death will get the others moving."

"Yes. Please find everything you can on such collections spells. I need to find Ryou and Yugi's at the hospital."

"I will not fail you, my Pharaoh."

"Isis, please. My name is Atemu."

"Good night, my Pharaoh. Be careful."

Mokuba slept on the Motos' couch that night, then went to school the next day, and the office after that. Half of the people wouldn't look him in the eye while the other half tried to offer their pitiful gestures of condolence. It sickened him. Seto was fine. He'd gotten through worse accidents than this and survived. Some of the newspapers called him "invincible" and one brave magazine even called him "The Original Underdog." Neither Seto nor Joey had appreciated that but still, Seto's ability to bounce back was legendary. So his jet crashed. That didn't mean he was dead, or even hurt. And while Mokuba had hoped sending Melody with him would make some kind of a difference, even if it didn't, his brother would come back to him like he always did.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

Mokuba glanced up to see Roland at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Your car's ready, sir. Mr. Varons is going to accompany you home for security."

"Varons. Oh right, that new kid. Okay, I'm coming."

Roland stepped back to let the boy walk by then followed him to the elevator.

"Mr. Kaiba—"

"Please, don't say you're sorry, Roland. If someone else says that to me, I'm gonna stab them in the temple with a spork."

Seto's right hand man smiled ruefully, his dark eyes concerned under his sunglasses. He pushed the first floor button and folded his hands in front of him.

"I was just going to say that you can call at any time."

Mokuba blinked then smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thanks, Roland. And thanks for coming back. I know you were taking care of your sister."

"She's fine, sir, don't worry."

After a few minutes, the elevator doors swished open. Scott Varons waited by the door and Mokuba sighed.

"Okay, Scott, I'm coming. Not like the maids don't watch me enough as it is. Oh, Roland? There is one thing."

"Sir?"

"Could you get the press to leave me alone? My brother's alive and I don't want to keep arguing with people."

"Of course, sir. Have a good night."

The thirteen-year-old waved to him then headed out to the limo. Scott slid in next to him but they didn't talk much. After they got back to the mansion, Mokuba just told the new kid to help himself to the kitchen before heading upstairs to do his homework. Anxiety gnawed at him like it often did when dealing with Seto, but he wasn't sure how else he was supposed to feel. A fog had seemed to settle around his head, as if he could see himself struggling with his math homework but his brain didn't hurt from thinking about it like it should have.

He sighed and closed his notebook. He couldn't think right now. Maybe Yugi had sent him an email. They had Internet jacks in some of the waiting rooms, right?

Getting up, Mokuba opened his laptop and logged in.

"That's weird. I'm not connected." He frowned, checked all the cable connections, and double-clicked on the browser icon. Nothing.

"How can the internet be out?"

Frustrated but a little too tired to fight through all the codes, Mokuba flipped open his cell phone. This was easier than emails anyway. Dialing Yugi's phone, a loud static met his ears. He dialed Yami and he heard the same thing.

"What the heck?" The static shifted abruptly to a deep, guttural growling and Mokuba snapped his phone shut. He needed ice-cream, cake, caffeine, something. He hurried downstairs then slowed his breathing and his steps a little as he got his jacket.

"Scott? I'm going out for ice-cream. You want anything?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I can't…I can't allow that."

Mokuba raised an eyebrow at the approaching guard.

"You can't allow that? Good grief, this is Domino, not Iraq. It _is_ safe to go out at night."

"I have my orders, sir." Scott put his hand on the door to keep it shut. "You aren't to go outside until further notice."

"You're putting me under house arrest?" Mokuba shrugged his jacket on the rest of the way, eyeing Scott carefully. "Who told you to do this?"

"Um…Ms. Seiler."

"What?! She has no power here! I am vice-president of Kaiba Corp. You take orders from me and my brother, not some European floosy!"

"Don't talk that way about her!" Suddenly the sweet, nervous kid Mokuba met in the elevator the other day vanished and a much older, much angrier man stared down at him. "I'm to keep you here until further notice. You don't go anywhere except school."

"And Kaiba Corp," Mokuba said slowly. "I still have to run the company."

"Mr. von Schroider will take care of that, _sir_. Now get back upstairs and shut up. Don't cause me any problems and I won't have to get mean."

"What do you mean you—" Mokuba took a deep breath, closing his mouth and setting his jaw. "Can I get something to eat at least? I haven't eaten since lunch."

"Just the kitchen." Scott followed him to the kitchen and watched as Mokuba opened the fridge and just stared. "Hurry up!"

"Well, it's not like I know what's in here. If you're in such a hurry, go watch TV or something. Last time I checked, we even had _cable_."

Scott rolled his eyes and walked out, grumbling something about babysitting and not enough money. Mokuba ignored him. So…he was under house arrest. And not only was he under house arrest, the woman who had ordered it was possibly the most manipulative woman in the business. And now Siegfried von Schroider was running Kaiba Corp? What happened at that party to let those two leeches move in so fast? Seto never would have allowed it, even if he had made a deal with them, and he certainly wouldn't have allowed anyone messing with his little brother.

Unless Seto really was…No! He couldn't think that. Seto was fine. Melody was fine. He was just…stuck in his own house unable to go anywhere with no internet, probably no phone, and possibly every camera and laser grid armed and ready to go off if he so much as sneezed too loud.

He shut the fridge with a sigh. Right. Sure. Okay, so the first thing he needed to do was get out of the house. He snuck out of Pegasus' castle easily enough. But the security in there wasn't that great. He'd never had to sneak out of someplace this locked down but…wait. His brother had snuck _into_ the mansion when he hacked into Industrial Illusions. Maybe he could get out the same way.

"Hurry up, brat! You can't stay in there forever!"

Note to self: fire that prick as soon as possible.

"I'm hurrying." Grabbing a pop tart, Mokuba waved at Scott and headed back up to his room on the third floor. Scott obviously hadn't heard of his exploits during Duelist Kingdom or Battle City. Or maybe he had, and he didn't believe them. Well, it was his loss.

After another two and a half hours, Mokuba poked his head out of his room, the third _Inuyasha_ movie still playing in the background. The hallway was dark, empty, and quiet, save for the subtle whirring of two security cameras and the little lights by the lenses.

_Okay_. Hiking his backpack on his shoulder, the younger Kaiba crept down the stairs to the first floor. He could hear the sounds of some sports show blaring in the game room as he crept by and he sent up a quiet prayer of thanks. Just a few more feet and he'd reach the stairs, then down into the basement to the computer, and out underneath the grounds to the back wall.

_Just a little_…

"And where do you think you're going?"

_Crap_. A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and hauled him back from the door.

"Sneaky little rat, aren't you?" Scott yanked his backpack off the boy's shoulder and threw it down the hall. Mokuba clutched his chest and squeezed his eyes shut. His heart pounded against his hand, his breath catching slightly.

"Did you really think I was that stupid?" Scott went on. "That I was just some hired flunky sent to wipe your nose?"

"Well," he wheezed, "I was hoping."

"Shut up!" Scott snapped. He shook Mokuba hard and dragged him back up the stairs. "Now we're going back up to your playpen and the little Kaiba is going to behave, or Uncle Scottie is going to duct tape him to the ceiling fan and force-feed him liver until he pukes his own kidneys out."

"You must be great at parties."

"Ha ha." Scott threw the boy into his room and he hit the floor hard. "Now stay put. They said they wanted you kept here. They didn't say you had to be breathing."

Mokuba glared at the man as he slammed the door, then the youngest Kaiba looked worriedly down at the hand still clutching his chest.

_Okay, guess I have to try something else_. He looked out the window at the stars and sighed. "Please hurry, Seto. Please, come home soon."

~~*~~

_Siberia, October 18, 5:00am_.

"Kaiba? Kaiba, you okay?" Melody coughed into her hand, slicking her fingers with blood, and kicked out from under a reclining chair. Twisted metal and melted plastic littered the ground, barely recognizable as a multi-million dollar jet. Harsh coughing and a sharp groan drew her attention to her right.

"Seto?"

"Yeah." Another cough. "Get this thing off me!"

"Yeah sure, whatever you say." Holding her bleeding hand to her chest, she reached out with her mind and threw the bench away. Seto lay on his back, blood coating his shirt from a wound in his shoulder, with his legs twisted at odd angles and his other hand clasping his arm.

"What took you so long?" he ground out.

"Oh wow, silly me for expecting a thank you. Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay! I have a piece of wall sticking out of my arm!"

"You wouldn't be left handed, would you?"

He gritted his teeth and she sighed.

"Of course you are. Okay, brace yourself. This is gonna hurt."

"Just get it out."

"All right, all right. Got any antiseptic?"

"There's some whiskey in the back cabinet. Some of the bottles might still be intact." He motioned to another area of the plane and she went off to hunt.

"You don't drink. Why do you have whiskey?"

"Drunk people are easier to make deals with."

"Okay, I found them." Melody came back with three small airline-sized bottles of Jose Cuervo. "Hold still." Without another word, she poured half the bottle on his shoulder. He hissed through his teeth.

"Usually people let the wounded have a drink first."

"I'm not usual. Here." She let him down the rest and clenched her hand around the jagged, bloody piece of metal. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"One, two, three!"

"Agh!" Seto curled in on himself, his right hand clenching his forearm. "Give me…something to stop the bleeding."

"I know what I'm doing, blue eyes." She quickly took out her knife and cut a strip of his coat, then packed the wound. He glared at her and she glared back.

"You have more coat than I have shirt. You can get another one later."

"Just hurry up."

"I'm hurrying, geeze." Wiping her hand off on her pants, Melody pulled her arms into her shirt, wiggled out of her bra, then pulled it out through her sleeve and wrapped it around his shoulder. She slipped his arm through one of the bra straps for a sling and frantically tried to slow the bleeding. But she could already feel him calming down. After a few minutes of deep, steady breaths, Seto had slowed his heart rate enough on his own that she felt comfortable backing away.

"Any idea where we are?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Russia, probably. We have to fly over to get to Hong Kong. Are you hurt?"

"Aw, are you worried?"

"Just that I'll have to carry you."

Melody wrinkled her nose at him then got up and looked around. Miles and miles of wasteland stretched out before them, broken only by rock slabs and a few spindly trees. A forest stretched beyond that, a dark stretch on the horizon. The ground thudded hard under her feet, frozen beneath a wet, crunchy layer of snow. Bits of the frozen water seeped into her sneakers and she stomped her feet to warm them.

"Is there any food on this thing?"

"Yeah, just…just wait a minute."

"Seto, we don't have a minute. Those people could still be after us."

"I know, Solo!" He sighed and turned to look at the far half of the jet. "There should be a cabinet over there with some snacks. And water bottles."

"Okay." The girl cast around for her duffle bag then started rummaging through the wreckage. She stuffed anything she found in the bag along with the other whiskey bottles, while Seto struggled to his feet.

"We need to head south," he said, carefully picking his way to the cockpit. He weaved a little, slipping on some of the wreckage, but eventually found the jet's black box. He swore.

"What?"

"It's dead."

"Dead? I thought those things were indestructible."

"Maybe if there wasn't a bullet hole in it, I would agree with you." He gave it a listless kick. "Armor piercing rounds. Sonuva…We need to head south. We can't have gotten very deep into Russia. The city of Novosribirsk should be fairly close. From there, we can get a plane or boat to Hong Kong then a boat to Tokyo."

He shut his eyes, his jaw tensing, and Melody straightened up.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snapped. "I'm fine. Where's my briefcase?"

"Uh…over there." She pointed to a spot a few feet from where she found him and he walked over to dig out his laptop.

"Here's my suitcase too," he said, pointing. "We can put everything in your duffel bag and just take turns."

"Okay."

Around ten minutes later, they had gathered everything they could in the duffel bag and Melody looked toward the horizon.

"It's still early. We can get a lot of ground covered before nightfall. You said south, right?"

"I didn't stutter."

"Pretty darn close. Mmkay, let's go." Hiking the bag higher on her shoulder, the girl started off down the hill. "Pick it up, blue eyes. If you fall behind, I'm leaving you here!"

Seto squeezed his eyes shut for a second and gripped his arm again.

"This week is going to hell."

"I can hear you."

"Good," he muttered, "maybe you can hear this too."

Melody got the distinct image of him holding up his middle finger behind her back and she rolled her eyes.

"Let's _go_, blue eyes!"

They walked in relative silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts. Melody could hear Seto casting about in his head like a frantic dog, going over a massive to-do list and never staying on one thing for more than a few seconds. Just the static alone made her head hurt and she tried to focus on something else. All things considered, the bad feeling that surrounded Domino hadn't promised a plane crash and she certainly didn't think she'd be the one stuck with Seto Kaiba in the middle of nowhere.

Okay, so what were her options? She could call for help, telepathically contact Jean, Logan, or even the Professor and keep the link going until they found them. But that left the whole no-connection-to-mutants thing. She still didn't know Seto's feelings about mutants. For all she knew, he could secretly lure mutant children to his theme parks and ship them off to Genosha on the weekends. Ororo wouldn't be happy if she called them in to save a mutant-hater.

Even worse, how would she explain how she called them? Neither of them had cell service out here. Telepathy would be the only option and Seto was smart enough to figure that out. He could destroy her if he wanted to. She'd have to pick up and move again, or go home. But she left home to take a break from her family for a while. And she couldn't go back to New York.

No. She'd try and tough it out here. It sounded simple enough. Just head south until they hit some villages and from there, go to the big cities. They had snacks and she could hunt if they needed more food. Besides, her parents taught her well. She knew plenty of woodcraft.

Melody glanced at Seto, who had somehow managed to overtake her, and twisted her mouth in thought. That shoulder wound didn't look too good. It was cold here, though, and his body had chilled enough earlier that he wasn't in danger of bleeding to death. But if it got infected…

Well, she'd just have to make sure that didn't happen.

_Eru, help us_.

"Move your butt, Solo," Seto called back. "I want to get home before my next birthday."

_And please help me not to kill him_.

"You're the one that's wounded. I don't see why you're complaining about me."

"Oh, let's see. You're in denial, you're childish, you're weak—"

"I am not! I came here to help! I didn't have to go to that dinner with you."

"And I didn't have to take you. I could have paid for a woman to show up when I got there and go home when I left."

"Oh, do you usually take hookers to these parties?"

Seto glanced out the corner of his eye.

"You would be the first."

"Oh, very mature. You ever get tired of insulting people?"

Seto veered off towards a tree stump and sat down.

"It's a game, Solo, if you're smart enough to remember."

"Those intelligence digs are getting old too. What are you doing?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm resting. I'm not particularly fond of passing out and I just had a piece of my jet ripped out of my shoulder."

"Aw, don't wanna faint and look weak in front of a girl?"

"No. I just don't trust you."

Melody rolled her eyes again.

"Fine. Stay here. I'm gonna look around. Dork."

Seto watched her leave then turned to stare at the ground at his feet. His vision started to swim and he closed his eyes. His shoulder throbbed hard, echoing the pounding in his head, and one hand came up to absently rub his churning stomach. He would probably vomit if he had anything in his system but he knew if he did that, it would rip open what little scab had formed on his shoulder.

His mouth started to fill with hot water and he swallowed hard. No. He would not vomit or pass out. He didn't have time for that. Taking some slow deep breaths, Seto leaned down to gather a few handfuls of snow. It was fairly clean and if nothing else, it felt good in his aching throat. His eyes still closed, Seto leaned his head back. The weak rays of the sun barely warmed his face and he sighed. It would get cold tonight. Really cold.

"Still with me, brat?"

He jumped slightly at her voice and opened his eyes.

"What? What are you doing?"

Melody stood at his side with one hand on his collar. He hadn't heard her approach, even on the wet crunch of the snow. He must've lost more blood than he thought.

"Checking your shoulder," she replied. Carefully putting his coat collar back, she braced her hand under the coat to check the bandage. Her fingertips brushed his chest and arm as she moved and her soft breaths rustled the fabric of his shirt. Seto swallowed, setting his jaw against the fine tingle that ran down his spine. He turned his head away.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine! How does it look?"

"Gross." She smoothed the bandage down and pulled his coat back up. "But other than that, it doesn't look too bad, considering."

Seto pulled at his coat, fixing how it sat against his shoulder, then buttoned up the coat to hold his arm tight against his side. Melody frowned at him.

"I thought you said you were left handed."

"I'm ambidextrous."

"So why'd you make it a big deal about writing with your right hand?"

"I didn't. You did."

"I did not! I was just worried about you not being able to write."

Seto smirked, relieved that the fight had driven that tingle away.

"So you're worried about me now?"

"Heck no!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Either swear or don't. 'Heck' just sounds juvenile."

"Almost everything you say sounds juvenile."

"So I should know."

"Bastard."

"That's better," he said, standing. Glancing at the sky, he started walking. "Although why a _writer_ would need to swear when there are over a billion words in the English language alone…"

"Okay, ya know what? Just shut up. I was gonna try and be nice cause you're hurt but now I'm just tired of hearing you talk."

"Not even your insults are creative. At least use _National Geographic_ or something."

Melody ran out in front of him and glared into his face.

"Please be quiet or I'll find a crocodile with a bite force of 2,500 pounds per square inch and have it death roll every last bit of your underdeveloped manhood off."

_Ooh_. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline surge through his body but he schooled his expression to look mildly thoughtful.

"Hmm. Brady Barr. Vicious, unorthodox, decidedly female. A little far-fetched though. We are in Siberia and crocodiles with that kind of strength only live in the Nile Delta."

She made a strangling motion then snarled at him and stalked off down the hill.

"And how would you know how developed I am unless you've been checking me out?"

"SHUT UP, KAIBA!!"

Something hit the ground by his left foot.

"You missed."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_October 18-22_

Back in London, Siegfried stretched in his office chair and leaned back into the soft leather. Elsa sat across from him on the lounge, her silky blonde hair flowing around her shoulders in a loose cloud.

"Young Mokuba must have heard the newscast by now," he said, letting his eyes travel across her form. "We should be able to move into Kaiba Corp soon."

"Yes," she crooned. "It is all falling into place."

Suddenly a frown creased his delicate features and he leaned forward.

"Are you sure Kaiba has been taken care of? He's notorious for outwitting almost everyone. He may not be dead. And we've told the news we didn't find anything when James radioed that the jet had exploded. What if he's alive? What if he makes it back to Japan and tries to take his company back?"

Elsa just laughed.

"I don't remember you being quite so paranoid, darling. Of course, Seto has been taken care of. I planned it all myself."

"All the same, I would like to send a team out to be sure. I lost to him once, Elsa. I have no intention of doing so again."

She heaved a martyr's sigh and sat up.

"Fine. Fine, send your little recon team. But I am telling you, they won't find anything. I have the utmost faith in my men."

"You don't know Kaiba as well as I." Siegfried paged his secretary. "Get my head of security."

"Yes, _Herr_ Schroider."

"Oh, Siegfried, you are so cute when you're nervous." Elsa stood smoothly to her feet then came around his desk to give him a kiss. "I will make the preparations and when you are through worrying about ghosts, you may come join me."

Over her shoulder, Siegfried spotted his little brother, Leon, gazing at him with hopeful eyes.

_Do not worry, Leon. Soon we will have our revenge and your spirit can rest_.

He looked back up at his blonde partner with a smile, and so missed the hope in the boy's eyes change to pain before he quietly disappeared through the wall.

"Ryou! Ryou, open up!" Atemu banged on the apartment door over and over. "Ryou, I know you're in there!"

"Oh!" A soft gasp made him turn to see a little old lady peeking from a small gap in the door. "Are…are you here about that English boy?"

"Yes! Yes, have you seen him?" Atemu hurried over and the lady opened the door a little wider. It caught on the chain but he could still see about half of her face. It was a very kind face so he tucked his hair behind his ear and began again.

"Please, ma'am. I really need to find him."

"Oh, you won't find him here, dear."

"Do you know where? He could be in real danger, ma'am, please."

The lady hesitated, her dark eyes glancing over his shoulder to Ryou's door, then she shut the door, undid the chain, and let him inside.

"Thank you, ma'am, thank you." Atemu waited until she'd locked, chained, and deadbolted the door to her satisfaction before speaking again.

"Do you know what happened to Ryou?"

"Oh, that poor young man. Such a nice boy. He used to come over every Tuesday for tea but he hasn't done that for months." She sat down on her sofa and a fat, silver tabby jumped into her lap. Atemu said a silent prayer to the animal in his head, fighting the urge to hurry her, and sat in a chair on the other side of the coffee table.

"Last week," she went on, "Beatrice, the American exchange student from down the hall, said she smelt this horrible stench coming from the room. And chanting."

"Chanting?"

"Horrible, grating sound. Beatrice says it's Latin but I don't think so. It's too guttural for that. And…" Her voice broke and she started petting the cat a little harder than before.

"Grandmother, what is it?" Atemu leaned forward. He could see her thin lips trembling and tiny beads of moisture at the corners of her eyes.

"The screams," she breathed. "Sometimes…late at night…I don't know if the others hear them but…he sounds like he's in so much pain. Are you going to help him? Please, say you will. I can't bear the thought of that sweet, innocent boy getting hurt."

"I'll do all I can, grandmother. Now please…do you know where he is?"

The lady rubbed her lips together, petting the cat faster. The poor thing mewed up at her then jumped onto the coffee table and into Atemu's lap. He cradled the tabby and it started purring. The deep, throbbing sound soothed his frazzled nerves, bringing a small smile to his lips.

"Cats were sacred in Egypt. For this one to take such a liking to you, you must be a very special person indeed."

Smiling, the lady dabbed her eyes.

"You seem like a decent young man. All right. I was walking by his apartment one day and I heard him talking to someone. An older man. Mean, vicious, brutal man. He was yelling and saying all these horrible things. Anyway, I think he said something about going downtown. They had to meet someone about some supplies."

"Supplies. Did you hear anything else?"

She inhaled sharply.

"Ryou…begging…Oh, please, help him. Please."

"I will, don't worry. I have to go now, but thank you for your help. And just to be safe, do you have anywhere you can go? A friend's house? A relative?"

"Do you think I'm in danger?"

"I don't know but I wouldn't want anything to happen to you and I'm sure Ryou wouldn't either."

"I um…I have a sister in Tokyo."

"Good! Go get your things. I'll call a cab for you. Hurry!" The small bit of Pharaoh he'd slipped into his voice got her moving and within twenty minutes, the sweet old lady was on her way to Tokyo with her pet cat, Jasmine, safely in her lap.

"Okay…downtown." Atemu waved them off then walked back to his car. If Bakura was conducting a ritual, there were only a few places where he could buy such supplies. Domino had about five, three of which were standard tourist attractions off Main Street. The other two sat nestled far away from prying eyes, deep in the heart of the wharf district. Those shops were real. He'd seen them on one of the late-night walks he took to clear his head and he remembered feeling the Shadows that cloyed around those buildings. They might not sell Shadow Magics per say, but he knew power when he felt it.

That was at least two weeks ago, and he just hoped those shops hadn't moved. Reaching into his pocket, the Pharaoh opened his cell phone and quickly dialed Yugi.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Yugi, I think I may have found something. Are you all right there for a little longer?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. Everyone's pretty stable here. What did you find?"

"I'll tell you later. But I'm going downtown and I won't be able to answer my phone."

"Okay, be careful, Yami."

"I will. Try and get some rest."

"Sure thing. Bye."

"Bye."

On the other end of the line, Bakura hung up his phone, the ring at his neck glowing under his shirt. Downtown, hmm?

_Well done, Pharaoh. Well done_. He'd find the Wiccan shop soon and he would learn what items he bought, how many, and what the shop owner thought about why he needed them. Atemu must have talked to one of the neighbors, maybe that nosy American next door. No matter, he'd take care of them later.

Slipping the phone into his pocket, Bakura turned to face the prone forms of Tea and Mai. Yugi had left for Joey's room an hour ago. He'd be back soon to check on them but it would take at least ten minutes to get down here.

"Sorry, Yugi," he muttered. Walking over, he reached out to grip the cords of both respiratory machines and, with a slow, smooth motion, ripped them out of the wall. Sirens went off immediately. The two started gasping, wheezing.

"I need you out of the way a little longer."

Tugging the hat a little lower over his eyes, the thief phased out of the room to the stairs at the other end of the ward. He frowned at Ryou's lack of protest then shook his head and headed down to the parking lot. The stupid mouse must have cried himself to sleep.

_Disgusting_.

He had just enough time to get back to the apartment, pick up his things, and move to a better area. Cackling to himself, Bakura got in Ryou's little POS and drove back to the complex. He Knew as soon as he entered the building that Mrs. Banks wasn't home. He grinned.

"Nice, Pharaoh. Very nice. But you can't protect them all. I wonder how little Mokuba's doing without his brother to wipe his butt?"

~~*~~

Well, to be perfectly honest, "Little Mokuba" had had better days. So far he had climbed through his window four times, his brother's window twice, and tried the back door, servant's door, and side door three or four times each. Scott caught him at every turn, even beating him to the different places. The man must have a map or blue prints or something. Only Mokuba and his brother knew the house this well but this guy had the mansion on lock-down. And while it upped his standing as a bad guy, Mokuba found it really, really annoying.

Sighing, the teen flopped backwards on his bed. Okay, so they tried to kill his brother. That meant they were probably going to try and use Kaiba Corporation by-laws to force him into either running or selling the company. It was an old trick but it was a plausible one so he should've expected someone other than Pegasus to try it. Problem was, it wasn't Pegasus and a traitorous board of directors this time. Elsa Seiler and Siegfried von Schroider were backed by some of Europe's most powerful aristocratic families. Those two were dangerous and if the rumors were true, at least one of them wasn't all that stable. Could he really hold them off until Seto got back? How long would that take?

Mokuba rubbed his eyes hard then put his hands behind his head. Plane crashes were unpredictable. He lost count of how many stories he'd heard over the years of miraculous survivals. Elsa and Siegfried would have known that so they either had to kill Seto and Melody beforehand then blow up the plane, or follow up with a team later. Maybe one of those search and rescue teams wasn't there to rescue them at all. And if Seto or Melody had gotten hurt in the crash itself…

Mokuba let out an exasperated scream.

"Shut up in there!" Scott yelled, banging on the door.

"I'm constipated!" Mokuba yelled back. "I haven't pooped in four days!"

He heard Scott make a disgusted noise and grinned. He'd tried too hard to escape today. Scott would no doubt watch even closer now, knowing what he could do, how many places he could squeeze through. Which also meant he couldn't try and escape from the house. That left school or work.

But Scott had special permission to watch him at school, for "protection" or some other stupid excuse. Not to mention his teachers. They hadn't let him out of their sight all day. He couldn't even go to the bathroom without someone following him to make sure everything came out all right.

Fine, so he'd have to escape from the Kaiba Corp building. He'd gotten make-up work from school for the next two weeks so he could spend more time with the company. Starting tomorrow, he would go to the Kaiba Corp office instead as the vice-president should. He could throw enough of a tantrum, make enough of a scene that Scott would cave, and nobody would be suspicious if he didn't show up at class. He'd have to get out of the office building if he was going to get out at all.

But where would he go? Yugi was still at the hospital and he couldn't hide there, not with that many people always cleaning and snooping. They would know to look at the Game Shop because he was there a couple days ago. Everyone else was in the hospital and he sure couldn't go to Ryou's.

Maybe…maybe he could look for his brother himself. Mokuba sat up, his mind racing. It was just crazy enough it might work. He'd find Seto on his own, taking a major piece out of their plan by removing their entrance to the company while at the same time, making sure his brother was safe and healthy enough to kick their corporate butts from here to the Stone Age.

The teen laughed out loud and flopped back onto his back.

"Hey! Keep it down!"

Mokuba laughed again, took a deep breath, and started singing at the top of his lungs.

"_I am Henry the eighth I am_

_Henry the eighth I am, I am_

_I got married to the widow next door_

_She's been married seven times before_

_And every one was a Henry—Henry!_

_She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam—no Sam!_

_I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry—_"

"—_Henry the eighth I am!_"

"If you don't stop, I am going to punch you in the mouth!"

Melody laughed at Seto's back and stretched.

"Maybe we should stop for lunch," she suggested.

"No."

"No?"

"I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Yeah yeah yeah." She swung the bag onto her other shoulder, staggering slightly when the weight hit her legs. "What time is it?"

He glanced at his watch.

"Almost seven, Domino time. Novosibirsk is two hours earlier than Kyoto so…almost five."

"How you holdin up?"

"I'm fine, Solo. Would you be quiet?"

"Ya know, if we're gonna be stuck here for who knows how long, you might as well be nice to me."

"Me?" Seto turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "You're the one that started throwing rocks earlier like a spoiled brat, not me."

"Oh yeah, like you're so much more mature than I am."

"Glad you can admit it."

"Jerk."

"Again with the insults?" He started walking again and she fell into step with him. Or at least, she tried. With his legs so much longer than hers, she could only match every other step. It bugged her.

"I thought you said you were a writer," he said accusingly.

"I never said I was a writer, not to you." She narrowed her eyes. "Did Mokuba tell you?"

"He might have mentioned something."

"I thought you didn't talk to your brother."

Seto whirled on her and she froze, her stomach clenching, her eyes wide at the feel of his anger slamming into her.

"I'll take your sarcasm," he said, his voice hard and cold. "I'll take your insults. But talk about my brother that way again, and I will leave you here to freeze to death. Do you understand me?"

She opened her mouth and closed it, her senses flooding with the testosterone coming off him. His eyes glinted like twin sapphires, as hard and cold as his voice. She could lose herself in those eyes.

"Do you understand me!"

Or not. Melody glared back, resisting the urge to turn her own amber eyes yellow.

"Forget it, Kaiba. Forget I said anything."

"This isn't one of your stories, Solo! You can't hit backspace here. It doesn't work that way. Quit trying to shirk out of what you do; it's annoying and you need to grow up!"

"Don't tell me what to do, you stupid prick! You're no better than I am, Mr. Buy-out-a-company-and-bankrupt-some-idiot-just-so-you-can-get-a-piece-of-cardboard! How dare you try to tell me what to do! You know nothing about me; just forget everything!"

"Don't you worry! As soon as we get back to Domino, your name'll just be a nasty taste in my mouth and you can keep running to New York or wherever it is you need to go to get some kind of penance for whatever it is you screwed up."

"I don't need penance! I could've let you die earlier and then all my problems would be over! It's your fault I can't call for help, ya know. If it weren't for you, I'd already be home in New York!"

"Oh you poor little rich girl, I feel so sorry for you."

She blinked.

"How did you—"

"I'm not stupid, Solo. Only two people can live in such an expensive city and then just up and leave it for one of the most expensive countries in the world: criminals and rich kids. And you don't have the guts to be a criminal."

"I do too. I've gone through more than you could ever dream of."

"Oh, you are so pathetic! You think just because one bad thing happened in your life, you have the right to play the martyr. You know nothing of the world, Solo. You have no idea what's out there. They will eat you up and spit you out if you keep going like this and you will not always have your cute little family to fall back on! Now, grow up, grow a set, and, for once in your miserable life, act like in adult!"

Melody squeezed her eyes shut, a few drop of moisture slipping out the corners of her eyes. But when she looked up at him, her face was set in the same blank mask he so often used.

"Then, by all means, let's get you home, Mr. Kaiba. I'd hate to see you as such a pretty corpse." Glaring, she shoved past him into the underbrush.

"Solo!"

"It's growing dark," she called back. "Do hurry up before the wolves get you."

He pursed his lips.

"It's not the wolves I'm worried about."

They made it another two hours before Seto began to stagger. The day had not gone well, even by his standards. Technically, it was in his best interest to be nice to her, but she took everything the wrong way. And she was just so childish! If she could fight intelligently he might have a different opinion of her but outside of the public arena, she just turned everything around because she couldn't say anything on her own.

Where was that woman from the dinner? She had opinions, intelligence, fire. In another world, he might have found her attractive but somehow, between then and now, she'd degenerated into a spoiled brat. It all came from that stupid habit of hers to try and redo everything. He knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt now.

Seto weaved slightly and his vision jumped again. He knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Where had he been going with this? He was thinking about how childish Melody was, and he was about to draw some conclusion about it. He couldn't remember now. It felt like a cloud of cold fog had wrapped around his brain, slowing his thoughts, hindering his movements.

"Kaiba."

He managed to glare back at the girl, who had started to build a fire pit at the base of a tree. They must be fairly close to the timberline but a semi-sparse pine forest still managed to thrive in the icy ground. It was shelter, in any case, and Seto couldn't exactly be picky.

"What?"

"Come here. Let me check your shoulder."

"It's fine."

The girl rolled her eyes and went back to tending the tiny fire. When had she gathered tinder? Had he zoned out that much? Shaking his head, Seto sat down on the other side of the fire and waited while she fed larger limbs into the flames.

"So are you going to give me something to eat or would you rather I hunt something myself?" he asked. Melody threw a bag of chips at him.

"What? No catty comeback?"

"Kaiba, I'm cold, I'm tired, and my head hurts from fighting with you all day. If you're not gonna let me check your shoulder, I'm going to bed."

With that, she flopped over on her side and closed her eyes. Seto just blinked at her.

_Maybe I was too hard on her today?_ He shook his head. _Nah. I could've been a lot worse_.

~~*~~

Four days passed this way, each day worse than the last. Atemu could only get a few things out of the magic shop owner, a hippie with one too many blunts in his lungs, and ended up searching Ryou's apartment directly. Bakura was long gone, taking clothes, toiletries, and whatever supplies he'd bought from the store.

A pentagram covered the living room floor, drawn with chalk and covered in silver dust and drops of black wax. In the middle of the pentagram sat a small, ceramic figurine of Ammit, the monster of the underworld that eats the hearts of people who fail Maat's feather test, and a broken figure of Horus, the protector of the Pharaoh. It was a childish message but a powerful one all the same. Ammit had devoured Horus, as Bakura, with his twisted sense of right and wrong, aimed to devour Atemu and the others. And while Atemu didn't have the Millennium Puzzle anymore, he still had some strength of his own.

Reaching out with the part of his mind that had always heard the Shadows, the Pharaoh followed Bakura's trail all over Domino and into Kyoto and the mountains beyond. Sometimes he would only miss them by a few minutes, but each time he missed them, he felt Ryou grow weaker. Time was running out for the boy. If this took much longer, Bakura might not have a host at all.

Yugi ended up literally worrying himself sick at the hospital, forcing the doctors to admit him and put him on complete bed rest. The others, while shaken from Bakura's meddling, had recovered for the most part but were in no condition to leave the hospital and wouldn't be for another few weeks.

Mokuba had decided it would be better to behave for a while, making Scott think he had won. Gradually, the paranoid traitor let up his hold and by the end of the fourth day, Mokuba felt it was time to leave. He booked a ticket to San Francisco on the office computer, knowing they would track him, then snuck down the maintenance stairs at Kaiba Corp. From there, he made his way to the pier in the next city, aiming to stow away on a ship to Hong Kong. Atemu found him walking along the side of the road and convinced him to help him look for Ryou instead because, as he put it, it would "be his hide" if Kaiba found out Atemu had let the youngest Kaiba out of his sight. From then on, the two stayed in hotels, an aggravatingly close step behind the tomb-robber.

On the other side of world, Siegfried and Elsa made preparations to forcibly take Kaiba Corporation. A fake search for Mokuba and some expertly forged documents, and the police had no choice but to let the two Austrian tycoons move into Domino City's power base.

Meanwhile, in what felt like the middle of nowhere, Seto had grown steadily worse. Though he was as stubborn as ever, Melody kept smelling something black and nasty floating around him. On the second day, she noticed an inflammation around the wound in his shoulder and a slight heat coming from his forehead. By the fourth day, thin red lines snaked out from the wound and up his collarbone. Blood poisoning. Infection had set in, and they were out of whiskey.

~~*~~

"Hey! Helloooooo. Blue eyes!" Melody clapped in front of his face and he jumped.

"What?" he snapped. She eyed him nervously.

"Maybe we should stop for a rest."

"I'm fine." He clenched his teeth, staring hard at the ground in front of him, but his eyes still looked fuzzy. Melody shivered and looked up at the sky.

"Solo! Let's go!" His words slurred together, worse than this morning. Melody could feel his aura fluctuating, pulling in too close to his body. It used to spread out, an almost visible force that intimidated everyone nearby. When he walked into a room, people acknowledged it, even respected it.

He felt so quiet now.

"A storm's coming," she said at last. Dark, roiling clouds covered the horizon, filled with glaring eyes and gaping mouths. She shook her head. Ada was right. She had the imagination from Hell.

"We need to find some shelter, Kaiba." Even though, after the other night, letting him freeze sounded disturbingly good.

"We're…fine…" He staggered, slipped on a patch of pine needles.

"Seto!" She grabbed his arm to steady him and he cried out. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Kaiba, I didn't mean to…Here. Here, sit down."

He managed a weak glare but let her push him down onto a boulder. Frigid blasts of wind blew down from the north. She shivered.

"Okay, Ada told me what to do, we just…Bugger!"

"What?" Seto tried to focus on her face. "Just what?"

"Don't rush me, I'm thinking." She stared up at the sky again. "I don't remember. I don't remember! Melkor take it, how hard is it to remember a few woodcraft tricks!"

"Melody." He latched onto her wrist, a surprisingly strong grip given his condition, and she froze. "I'm sorry…I yelled at you…You're a smart girl…but you're panicking again…Now calm down…and tell me…what we need to do…"

She could feel his stubborn strength, his steadiness like water flowing around her hand. Her heartbeat slowed slightly and she took a deep breath.

"The wind's blowing too fast for a fire. We need to find shelter from the blizzard before the temperature drops."

"Fine." Seto closed his eyes then slowly opened them again. He was getting nauseous. She could feel his fever rising, smell the sweat on his forehead. The wind whipped her hair into her face, stinging her neck and catching on the hood of her sweatshirt.

"Okay," she said. "Okay, this boulder will work, and those trees. It's too late to build a lean-to. Give me your coat." She took the coat before he could say anything then with a couple waves of her hand, a trench of snow opened up on the other side of the boulder, deep enough to reach the ground.

"My feet are cold…"

"I'm hurrying, blue eyes. I'm hurrying." She threw the coat down into the trench. "Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"Just do it!" Seto Kaiba was one of the strongest, none-preternatural Alphas she knew of but, regardless of the type, a stern enough tone will get any Alpha's attention. In his addled state, Seto struggled to obey and just the fact that he listened tied her stomach in knots.

"I-I can't feel my hands…"

The wind howled around them now, snapping them with little snow and ice crystals.

"Never mind your hands, hon. Let's get the rest of you warm first. And for the record, I really didn't mean to do this."

He passed out before he could ask.

~~*~~

"A blizzard's coming up, sir." A young man dressed in black fatigues clicked a few more keys on his laptop. "Any trail they left will be gone by morning."

A dark haired man with mutton-chop whiskers flicked his cigarette out the window of the truck then rolled up the window.

"Freddy, what did we find at the crash?"

"Um…tracks?"

"And in the jet itself?"

"Blood. Lots of blood. One of them bled towards the cockpit—we found a piece of bloody metal at the site—and the other bled towards the back from a piece of a chair. That blood pool was a lot bigger."

"Good boy. And which way were the tracks going?"

"South."

"And that means they're heading to Novosibirsk. It's the only city big enough for any kind of public transportation and that prick'll wanna get back to his little brother as fast as possible. But with the blood loss, I'd say they won't even make it through this storm."

"Oh. Okay, guess that means our job's half done."

"Nice when Nature helps out, isn't it? Get some rest, Freddy. John," he tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Pull up somewhere so we can catch some zees. We still need to find the bodies to get paid."

~~*~~

"I'm telling you, Temu, we need to go left."

"Mokuba, I've been here a thousand times with Yugi and Grandpa. I know where I'm going."

Mokuba rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat.

"We've been driving for three hours. I'm tired and hungry, you're fried and irritable, and, to top it off, we're running low on gas and we have no cash."

"If you're tired, sleep. And we have plenty of cash. Just because we can't use you're credit card, doesn't mean we're destitute. And I am not irritable."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Mokuba!" The Pharaoh shot a look at the boy, who turned to stare out the window.

"I could have found my brother by now."

Atemu sighed and propped his elbow on the door.

"Mokuba, I know you're worried about Kaiba but I need your help here. You are the only one that can help me find Ryou and that boy is weakening every day, maybe even every hour. I cannot do this on my own."

Rubbing his eyes, Mokuba leaned his head back and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he crossed his legs in the seat.

"Okay, Temu. What do we know for sure?"

"Bakura is skilled in Ancient Magic, more than just Egypt. From the items he bought from that magic store, I would say he knows a great deal about witchcraft and necromancy as well. I also found a pentagram on the floor of Ryou's apartment. Do you know this symbol?"

"I know it. The star inside a circle to echo the five pointed star in apples and stuff."

Atemu gave him an incredulous look and the boy shrugged with a sheepish grin.

"I read a lot."

"Very good. The pentagram was used in some of our more obscure rituals to symbolize the four cardinal directions and one to honor the sun."

"So…what, is he trying to summon a Duel Monster?"

"Not exactly. The circle is a boundary for collection spells, usually to summon or conjure something. From the feel of that apartment, I think he's collecting different essences, different aspects of the soul. A skilled enough magician can even capture emotions and I think Bakura's collecting from a sister, lover, friend, brother, and father."

Mokuba's eyes widened.

"Theresa, Mai, Tea, Joey, and Seto. Wait, Joey and Seto are both brothers. Who's the father?"

"Kaiba. Think about it, Mokuba. Your brother is like a father to you. Joey looks after Serenity but she still has her mother. I think Kaiba got targeted because of his parental role in your life. He's the only parent you have and because he's male, he fits the profile for someone born in an extreme patriarchal society."

"But the crash was probably planned by someone in London. Siegfried von Schroider and Elsa Seiler have moved in; they practically own Kaiba Corp now."

"Then we need to get you back home."

"No! That's the thing, Temu, as long as I'm out of their reach, they can't force me to hand over the company. Right now, all it looks like is that I went to San Francisco to find Duke Devlin and get him to help find my brother. I'm away from the company because I'm an immature kid worried about Seto and they moved in illegally because neither me, nor Seto would sign those papers and everyone knows that but they can't prove it yet."

"Wow," Atemu said quietly. "You've really thought of this."

"Course I have. No one else will."

Atemu opened his mouth to say something else when something white darted in front of the car. He swerved.

"No, wait!" Someone cried. "Stop! Stop, please!"

"It's Ryou!" Mokuba yelled. Atemu pulled over to the side of the road and the dark-haired boy jumped out.

"Ryou?"

The white-haired teen stood in the middle of the road, shaking violently, his clothes hanging off his frame in tatters.

"Pharaoh…" His voice sounded weak, dry, as if he hadn't had anything to drink in days. The other two hurried to his side and led him back to the car.

"Ryou, what happened?" Mokuba asked. "Are you okay? Where've you been? Why didn't you call?"

"Water first, young one." Atemu reached into his bag in the back seat then ushered Ryou into the back and handed him a water bottle. While the white-haired teen drank, Atemu and Mokuba noticed dozens of new cuts on his arms, and a couple on his neck. Dark circles hung under his bloodshot eyes and his hair fell awkwardly over his face, as if he'd pulled at it for hours and ripped some of it out.

Mokuba shut and locked the doors and Atemu turned the car back on.

"What happened, Ryou?" Atemu asked, pulling onto the road.

"No, don't go this way. Bakura has a trap for you at the next bridge."

"How did you get away from him?"

"I don't know." Ryou took another drink. "He's been acting really weird lately. Nightmares. Memories." The boy sobbed into the water bottle and rubbed his eyes. "I can still hear the screams. They won't leave him alone."

"Who, Ryou?" Mokuba asked, his voice trained to what he used on scared animals that snuck into the Kaiba Corp warehouses. "Has Bakura hurt you?"

"No. No, it's not him. It's not—AAH!!" He threw his hands up to defend himself, thrashing at something they couldn't see. Mokuba grabbed his hands, trying to keep him from hurting himself, but the wiry teen was a lot stronger than he looked. Atemu hit the gas.

"Just a little longer, Ryou, hang on!"

"NO! Yami, make them stop! Yami!"

Atemu glanced into the rearview mirror, his heart clenching at the sight. Suddenly Ryou threw his head back, his mouth and eyes wide, tears sliding down his cheeks. His entire body tensed, his back arching further than should be humanly possible.

"Atemu?" Mokuba asked. Atemu looked again. Shadows clawed at Ryou, writhing around his skin, wrapping up his limbs, pouring out of his mouth.

"Bakura, let him go!" He tried to pull over but the car wouldn't respond. Ryou gagged.

"Bakura! As your Pharaoh, I command you to let him go! You're hurting him!"

The white-haired boy started laughing, a harsh, mocking sound, and the wheel started turning wildly. The car swerved back and forth across the road, making Mokuba scream.

"You're too late, _Pharaoh_!" Bakura growled. He snapped his head down and glared at them through his bangs, his eyes red as blood. "The boy is ours! You cannot win this time! HA!" He launched himself through the window, vanishing into the darkness. Atemu called after him, grappling for the wheel, and the car skid to a stop on the side of the road.

The two sat there, panting, for a full five minutes. Finally, Atemu stirred.

"Mokuba?"

"I'm okay. Maybe…maybe we should go back to the Game Shop or something. Look up Seto's locket and maybe you can…I dunno, scry for Bakura."

"Yes. Yes, that sounds good." Prying his hands off the steering wheel, Atemu shifted gears, turned the car around, and headed for home.

"We'll start again tomorrow."

"Right. In the daylight."

When they got back to Domino, they checked into a hotel on the outskirts of the city. The search for Mokuba hadn't led them to the Game Shop yet but all they needed was one fan screaming "Moku-Chan" and the entire force of Irmgard and Schroider Corp would descend on the tiny little Game Shop. They could wait a little longer.

"All right, I'll try calling Isis again," Atemu said, letting his hair out of its band.

"And I'll see if I can hack into the company's satellites." The boy plopped down on the couch and opened up his laptop. He and Seto used to have a game of who could hack into the mainframe faster then rebuild the security so that the other one couldn't crack it. They would bet all number of things on the winner of each round, but the prize most often ended up as chocolate. Unknown to the rest of the world, Seto had an enormous sweet tooth and with his superior hacking skills, he usually satisfied it.

But his skills weren't that superior. Flexing his hands, Mokuba proceeded to go through every back, side, and trap door he knew of. Unfortunately, Siegfried von Schroider knew more than just how to brush his hair to a high gloss. He'd rebooted the system, accessing lower level files while keeping the higher level files behind the firewall Seto designed. Mokuba had locked it when he escaped but he still whistled through his teeth at the sheer amount of information Siegfried could now access. No wonder he was Seto's main rival.

That Seiler chick was good too. He'd known of her for years, even googled her once when she tried to flirt with him over the phone before she realized he was still in middle school. She couldn't handle computers as well but she could manipulate people like a master puppeteer. She'd rearranged every guard shift and round so that the corner offices, already under high security, were virtually unreachable. All the other employees, financial and public relations people in particular, now stood to gain hundreds of more dollars if they could make the illegal takeover seem like a smooth merger to the press.

Of course, nothing but Schroider's meddling stood out this clear. It took Mokuba over two hours to find the orders then translate the subtle, well-worded messages into blunt, one-line threats. At length, the boy sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you all right?" Atemu asked. Mokuba nodded with a yawn.

"Seto usually deciphers all this legal jargon, not me." He then told Atemu what he'd found. The Pharaoh leaned forward on his knees, lacing his fingers.

"As long as there are rulers, there will always be a separate language of power. What about the satellites?"

"I'm getting there."

"Be careful, child. They could track you."

Mokuba scoffed, his slender fingers flying over the keys.

"I doubt that. I'm jumping all over the place. San Fran, Denmark, Belgium, Lisbon, Quebec. It'd be like trying to unravel the wires in your brain."

"Yes, you are a Kaiba." The older man leaned back and stretched while Mokuba accessed one of the satellites used for the Battle City Duel Disks. "What are you looking for again?"

"His locket." He held up his own to show him. "Our lockets act as key cards for the highest level programs but they also act as homing beacons. Seto had that part installed the second time I got kidnapped. Ya know, with the rare hunters? Did you get a hold of Isis?"

"No. I didn't even get her message service."

"It's called a voicemail, Temu. Okay, satellite's looking."

Suddenly the lights flickered. Static snaked across the monitor and Mokuba smacked the side.

"Oh come on, don't do this to me. Someone must have hit a power line."

Atemu frowned. His gaze focused inward as he slowly stood and walked over to the window.

"No. Hurry, Mokuba. Shadows surround this place. Bakura won't let us get very far if he can help it."

"I'm trying, I'm trying. NO!" The screen went black, then blue with basic computer alerts, then back to his desktop. "Stupid—the system kicked me out! They must've found me or thought they had an intruder and shut it all down. I can't try and get back in now or they'll find me for sure! Dang it!"

"How far were you?"

"Not very. All I know is he's still in Russia. Or his locket is anyway." Mokuba swore under his breath and leaned back into the couch. Atemu smiled gently.

"Don't think like that, child. And don't swear."

"Seto does."

"You're not Seto."

"Yeah." Sighing, the black-haired boy blinked slowly up at the ceiling. "Wait. What did they used to call Bakura? Back in Egypt?"

"Tomb robber, thief, street rat, demon…"

"No, like a title. Thief Lord?"

"Thief King, though he was hardly material for a king. He was arrogant, abrasive, over-achieving—"

Mokuba tuned the ranting Pharaoh out and typed "Thief King Bakura" into Google's search bar. It was a long shot but at this point, they couldn't do much else. After a few seconds, the results appeared. The first few talked about Battle City and the God Cards. The next five had nothing to do with Bakura at all. Mokuba pursed his lips and scrolled down.

"Hey. I think I found something."

"About Bakura?"

"No. But look at this." He clicked the link and a red web page decorated with purple drapes and gold crowns popped up. "It's a research paper by a student from the University of Cairo."

"Cairo? That's…Thebes?"

"Yeah, I think so. This guy says he's found proof of a thief king line in the ancient world, from Egypt to Babylon to Persia, Macedonia, all over the Mediterranean.

"_The thief king has even been thought to be a thief _queen_, robbing nobility_

_and wealthy merchants. With each new ruler of the underworld, the crimes became more vicious and the thief king or queen more elusive. I have _

_reason to believe these thief lords are connected based on their method of operation and target choice, seeming to attack people involved in the black_

_arts or the supernatural dealings of the day._"

Mokuba scrolled down to four pictures of ruins and two more of ancient fresco paintings.

"What if all these thief kings and queens are connected a little more than they think? They don't say anything about the ring, but there's this unspoken rule about those, right?"

"There have been several expeditions concerning my reign but the tomb-keepers have been very careful about keeping the Millennium Items a myth."

"Okay, so there's no mention of the Millennium Ring but…what if…what if the thief lords aren't just copy-cat thieves? I mean, I know every major city and every civilization has their Godfather but…is it too crazy to think the ring has something to do with all these?"

"It does say they attacked dealers in the supernatural." Atemu folded his arms and stroked his chin in thought. "I never learned everything about how the ring works but I do know that Bakura has been conscious these three thousand years, while I have been locked in the puzzle, virtually asleep."

"So he's been body hopping. Going from host to host."

"It's very possible."

"What did you say that spell was for again?"

"Collections used to summon or create."

"And the different aspects are different sides of a person's life. Different relationships."

"Without which a person's life is void and empty." Atemu stared hard at the laptop. "Like theirs. Millennium Items have been known to extend a person's life but even with ten more years, for Bakura to be awake for three thousand years, he'd have to have…"

"At least a dozen hosts."

"He's not trying to summon a monster. He's trying to summon a body. And he's using the essence of the different pains to fuel the pentagram."

"Why doesn't he just make a body or buy one or something?"

"He is." Atemu turned to look Mokuba in the eye.

"He's using Ryou as the raw material."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_October 23_

It was warm here, warm and soft. Seto couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so relaxed, so…completely rested. Something told him he needed to get up and get moving but his body had slipped into that leadened, hazy state. He couldn't move now if he wanted to, and he certainly didn't want that. Maybe if he stayed still long enough, he could go back to sleep.

He did have to pee, though. He sighed, glaring up into the darkness. Another sigh echoed his and he froze. Something shifted and soft, hot air flowed over his skin, sending an odd wave of goose bumps across his chest. Memories started trickling up through the fog. The party, the crash, the blizzard. He'd passed out and Melody had…Melody. That's right, she'd panicked about what to do for shelter and he'd had to talk her off the ledge. So where was she now?

Whatever it was moved again, this time with a cat-like "mrph." Seto flexed his good hand. Fuzzy fabric rubbed against his knuckles. Smooth, taut skin met his fingertips.

_Oh no. She didn't_. He tried to take a deep breath and felt a strange weight press against his chest. A weight made of strong legs nestled between his, a flat stomach, a nice chest, and a soft mouth that was, at this very minute, breathing thick, warm air across his collarbone.

_She did_.

He shifted again and the movement sent his shoulder into spasms. He gritted his teeth.

"Solo."

She stretched, rubbing against something not even his doctor took care of. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Solo, wake up."

"Mmm? Oh, hi." She lifted her head, brushing his chest and hand with her thick hair.

"Sleep okay?"

"Get off."

"Well, there's a fine how-dya-do. How about a thank you? I did save your life, ya know."

"I don't see how raping an unconscious, injured man counts as saving a life!" He fell back against the fabric he now recognized as his coat, the yelling making his head swim.

"I didn't rape you," Melody growled. "I made do with what we had. A blizzard was coming, remember? Just because you always take advantage of people, doesn't mean everyone does!"

"All right! All right, just…keep your voice down."

Her eyes glowed in the darkness as she slid up to look in his face. He winced, a sharp pain stabbing into his shoulder, and she gently prodded the wound.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"A little. We need to get going."

"Right." She slid back down and he let out a very dog-like snarl.

"Stop moving!"

"How can I get out if I don't move?"

"Figure it out!"

"Ych, you are such a pansy. Okay, fine, lemme get my pants."

"Your _what_?!" He really didn't need that image but that explained the abundance of skin on skin. She'd stripped them down to their underwear and used their clothes as a cocoon with his trench coat as a waterproof shell. It was a great idea, really, but he was an eighteen-year-old male with a half naked girl on top of him and his hormones had other things in mind than, say, getting back to his brother.

"Hurry up, Solo," he urged quietly.

"I'm hurrying, geeze."

A few quick movements and she sat up. He gasped at the rush of icy wind blowing into the trench then again at the sight of her pulling back on her clothes. He swore at her to cover for it.

"You will pay for that, Solo," he ground out.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Get dressed. We're burning daylight."

Seto gingerly sat up, careful of his shoulder, when a wave of dizziness swept over him. He fell back onto the ground, hissing in pain.

"Blue eyes?" Melody knelt over him and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Your fever's rising again. Come on, Kaiba. Can you get dressed?"

"I…I think so."

"Okay. One…two…three." She slipped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a sitting position, then started handing him his clothes. He moved slower than he should have and he glared at the offending limbs.

"That won't make you move faster," she said.

"Shut up."

"Do you have a gym at your house?"

"What?" He looked up to see her perched on the snow by his head, her ankles sinking a good six inches. _Some blizzard_.

"Well, I've just never seen you go running and I went to the Domino Gym a couple times before we met and I never saw you there so…you must have a private gym."

"Why do you say that?" Seto hesitantly leaned up enough to pull his pants the rest of the way up, zip and button them, then stuck his hand through one arm of his shirt.

"See something you like?"

"As if," she said, rolling her eyes. "Come here. You look like a floundering pup with that shirt." Reaching down, Melody fixed his shirt so his arm, still in the makeshift sling, lay snug next to his body under the buttoned up shirt. "Can you stand?"

"In a minute." He closed his eyes, steadying himself against the abnormally hot, clammy feeling that enveloped him. He hadn't been this sick in a while. The infection must have gotten worse during the night.

"May I ask…where you got all those scars? Most of them look pretty old. Are they all from fights at the orphanage?"

He pried one eye open.

"Ah. There's the girl from the dinner."

"Huh?"

He slowly climbed to his feet and she helped him into his coat. After another few minutes, they started walking. The vertigo wasn't so bad once he got moving, if he kept his head steady. But every step jarred his shoulder, sending stabbing pain into his chest and neck.

"Are you okay?" Melody put a hand out to steady him but he batted her away.

"I'm fine."

She glanced at the ground.

"I've been thinking and…I know what it's like to lose a dad. When I was eight, my dad died in a crash. We were on our way to visit my aunt and uncle and…I dunno, I guess he just lost control or something. I don't remember much but I know these…bandit people came and took me and my brother. Mom told us later they thought we'd be good ransom or something. It took Mom almost a week to find us. She said she got thrown out the front during the crash and the guy who would…eventually become my new dad found her with a couple of his friends and found us before we got too far."

"Why are you telling me this?"

His tone jarred her back to reality and she ducked her head.

"I…just thought…"

"What? That you'd tell me one little thing about your life and I'd break down in your arms like some kind of cheap romance novel?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked up.

"I'm trying to help."

"If you really want to help, get me home. I don't need your sympathy." He stalked off, leaving Melody staring after him with eyes fleck with yellow. Neither one spoke but her sensitive hearing picked up everything, from the wind rustling the pines, to snapping twigs, to the soft, labored sound of his breathing. She sighed. She was used to ambient noises at home but they never had such an…empty feeling. It was so desolate out here. It reminded her of the old stories Elladan and Elrohir used to tell of arid wastes, marshlands and plains that drained the energy right out of travelers. She could almost feel the hope slipping from her body like the cold seep of blood before death answered the door. His fever had worsened a lot since last night and while he seemed to have gotten his second wind, it wouldn't last long in these conditions. If they didn't get help soon, he'd die. She couldn't watch someone else die. Not again.

She hugged the duffle bag strap a little tighter. What would her parents do? Nana probably would have called someone for help by now, but what if she couldn't? Melody chewed on her bottom lip. Nana would keep going, taking one day at a time.

"_Deal with what's in front of you,"_ her parents always said. Do what you can for the moment you're in, plan for what you can see, and leave the rest to Eru. The Force can only guide you so much and after that, you have to trust that everything will work out for the best.

But what about Mokuba and the others? Her stomach suddenly felt tight and sick. They couldn't take any longer out here, but what else could they do? If Seto was at full strength, they could run most of the way. As it was, all they could do was walk, and barely that.

Something hot and wet slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away. Great. Now she was crying. Sithspawn, couldn't she do anything for people besides bawl?

_I am so pathetic!_

"Solo."

She sniffed and hastily wiped her eyes.

"Gonna yell at me again?"

Seto stopped at the top of a small incline and gazed out at the thick layer of snow that blanketed the tundra in clean, beautiful white.

"I have an Olympic-sized pool in the basement. Not a gym."

"Oh." She chanced a small smile. "Okay. Cool."

He nodded.

"Now," he said, "We're in the middle of Siberia. We're low on antiseptic and food, and the only water we have is the snow we walk on. I'm injured with almost three days worth of gangrene raging through my system and I'm sick enough to almost say 'I'm sorry.' Mokuba sent you and from the way Yugi was acting, I'm willing to vouch it wasn't just because I needed a dinner partner. It also seems you have some sort of wilderness skills, although why a city girl would need to know a blizzard trick like that is beyond me. That fact aside…can you behave long enough for us to get back?"

Melody smirked and was about to say 'yes' when the wind shifted. She lifted her nose, scenting.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Shh…Oh crap."

"What?"

"Stay here!" Dropping the duffle bag, she ran off, north towards the jet, and cast about their former trail. Images of black figures with shiny helmets and even shinier guns flashed through her eyes and she ran faster. The clean smell of fresh snow filled her nose but every now and then, she would catch a tang of…something. She kept running, following the strange scent the wind gave her. Then…there! Oil. Grease. She skidded to a stop and dropped to her knees before sweeping some snow out of the way. Tires had passed this way. Heavy tires, before the blizzard. Maybe a jeep or something, and the treads overlapped. More than one vehicle then.

"Which way you goin?" She looked around, reaching out across the landscape.

"Aw, crap." They were gaining. They had gone around the forest and those jerks were _gaining_. Melody ran back to Seto as fast as she could, her mind racing. The bad guys had vehicles so they needed to stay to the trees. If they started tracking them on foot…well, she'd worry about that later.

"Took you long enough," the brunette said, standing. "What did you find?"

"We're being tracked."

"Tracked?"

"Yeah, two vehicles at least. They've gone around, close to the river, but they're getting—DUCK!!"

A bullet whizzed over his head. He swore, wincing, and they bolted in the other direction. Harsh voices barking orders chased them through the trees.

"I thought you said they went around!"

"They did! They must've doubled back!" She grabbed his hand, dragging him along so fast he tripped on hidden ruts and stones.

"If it weren't for my shoulder, I could take them all right now."

"And if I were Storm, I could zap them all from here, now will you hurry up?"

"If you would quit pull—Gah!" His foot crashed right through a patch of ice, his other hit rock. He threw himself to the right, onto the small cliff, but Melody stumbled, slipping on the same ice, and they both tumbled off the other side of the cliff, the duffle bag dumping its content all over the hill. They rolled about thirty feet before Seto managed to get his feet in front of him and brace against a rock. Melody slammed into his back. He lurched forward, weaving, then threw up in the river.

"Sorry!" she cried. "You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry; I just lost my balance."

"No duh!"

"There they are!" One of the men crested the hill and took aim.

"Run!" Melody yelled. She waved her hand at the man, knocking him back into the trees, and grabbed Seto's arm. "Hurry, hurry!"

He splashed along the shoreline, staggering towards the base of the cliff. Melody ran off in the other direction.

"Solo! Solo, get back here!"

"My notebook!" She frantically searched the hillside, running zigzag to dodge the bullets.

"Solo, you idiot! You're gonna get shot!" Seto watched her, clutching his arm, as she grabbed a thin black notebook and ran back to him.

"A notebook?" His long legs caught up with her as she ran by, though every step was a new adventure in pain. "You risk your life for that stupid notebook but you couldn't think for two seconds and grab a gun?!"

"Shut up, Kaiba. This is important to me!"

"It's not worth your life, you moron!"

"Yes, it is!" She stopped again and he nearly crashed into her before she grabbed his hand and yanked him into a shallow cave. He collapsed in a heap, retching, while Melody curled up with the notebook held tight to her chest. Outside, they could hear the shouts and gunshots getting close. Something crashed downriver, and gradually, the noises faded away. Seto let out a sigh of relief and let his head fall to the cold river stone.

"If you ever…do something like that again…I swear, I will burn that stupid notebook and…everything in it."

"You'll do no such thing. You're not the only person who's lost someone. This notebook is special and if you ever even think about burning it, I'll do the bad guy's job for them!"

They had a brief staring contest then Melody peered outside at the river.

"Get some rest. You need your strength."

~~*~~

Melody crept through the forest on quiet feet a couple hours later. Her notebook sat snugly in her hoody, which she, in turn, had tied around her back. Things were not going well. Hunters. Infection. Winter itself. She should've just called for help. Seto wouldn't be dying right now if she had, but now, no matter how fast the X-Men got here, they still wouldn't be able to do much. All that running had spread the infection through his system. They'd be lucky if he made it another few days.

No. She couldn't think like that. A weaker man would have collapsed days ago. He had the will of an ox; that much she could see for herself. He could make it. She just had to keep him fed and warm. He'd make it. He had to.

Something snapped to her right. She froze, scenting. Ah. A little doe. Ada taught her that it wasn't very sportsmanlike to hunt the females of any game animal but she had an injured man holed up in a dank cave. She might not get another chance at food.

She crouched further into the snow. The doe nosed around a tree just ahead. Her feet sank a little further than they should have, but a loose nest of pine needles may have settled there.

Coiling her muscles, Melody rolled her shoulders and pounced. The chase was short and quick. A swift strike to the hind legs brought the doe to the ground. Another strike slit her throat. Melody sat back, waiting for the creature to twitch herself out, and drank in the sweet, coppery scent of the blood. She would have loved to have hunted longer, run faster, to get this tension out of her system. But that would just be cruel to toy with the doe that way. She could make do with this.

Taking another deep, scent-filled breath, Melody closed the doe's eyes, muttered a quiet Sindarin prayer of thanks, and hiked the animal on her shoulder. She stopped outside the cave and set her catch on the riverbank.

"Where did you go?"

She looked up to see a rather pale Seto pick his way down to the river. He held his arm tight against his chest and his eyes were a little dull, but he was trying. Actors always did.

"Went to get something to eat. See?" She slipped a knife out of her pocket and started gutting the doe. "My parents taught me. We've gone hunting since I was…nine? Yeah, eight or nine. Not deer of course, I was too little, but rabbits and stuff. Cali, my sister, said only kill what I would eat or less. I can always get more later but considering how we're doing, I figured we could eat what we want then cook the rest to take with us."

He watched with morbid fascination as she peeled the hide all the way back and started on the scent glands.

"Gotta be careful with these," she said. "Nick or break one of these and it ruins the meat."

"Musk."

"Yep. You hunt?"

"I read."

"Oh, okay. Well, you wanna crash course? You look like you're feeling a little better."

"A little. And no, thanks." He turned slightly green when she cut out the esophagus and threw it into the river. "Just gut the thing so we can eat."

"Never seen you so skittish. They do this to your steak, ya know."

"I'm not skittish. I'm hungry…what?"

Melody stared down at the doe, her knife halfway into the abdomen.

"What?" Seto asked again.

"I…I think I hit bone."

"Rib cage. Let's go, Solo."

"No. It's not in the right place to be a rib." She dragged her knife down the rim of the muscle and carefully pulled it back. A small dark thing poked out of the cut and she threw the knife down with a cry.

"She was pregnant! That's why she couldn't run as fast! Force, I killed an innocent…AGH!!"

"Solo."

The dark thing moved. She wiped some of the blood off of it and bit her lip as the little muzzle of the fawn quivered in the open air.

"Can you save it?" Seto asked. She shook her head, tears burning her eyes.

"It's too young. Maybe if we were back in the city, I could get an incubator or something but…" She clenched her other hand. "I never should've come here. I never should've come to Domino. I can't even save a stupid deer. How am I supposed to save a bunch of high-schoolers?!"

The little fawn nosed her finger, sucking on the tip, and she let out a groan like a wounded lion.

"It's the same wherever I go. I couldn't save Katelan, and now Mokuba's depending on me and you're gonna die and—"

"Melody!" Seto's sharp tone forced her to look up. "What's done is done. If you can't save it and it won't survive on its own, put it out of is misery."

"Kill him?! I can't!"

"He'll die one way or another." He glanced down at the baby animal, its eyes still sealed shut, its downy fur slicked back from its tiny head. It would've been really cute dried off. "Do you want me to do it?"

She nodded and he reached down to the fawn's head.

"Wait, no!"

"What?"

"I…I'll do it." With trembling hands and streaming eyes, she petted the baby one more time then, in one quick motion, snapped his neck.

"I had to do it," she muttered. "I made the mistake. I had to see it through."

Seto nodded and sat back, watching as she finished dressing the deer.

"I'll…g-go get some f-firewood," she said when she was done. He watched her leave then turned back to look at the river. So she finally took responsibility for her actions. About time. But an animal bound for their stomachs and people she's responsible for are two different issues. He still didn't know if he could trust her. True, she could take care of herself, somewhat, but she was still too unstable.

His shoulder twinged, his chest tightening. He gritted his teeth with a sigh. He had no choice but to trust her. If only he wasn't so weak! He could put on a passable front but they both knew he was getting worse. And now she feared he would die. He saw it in her eyes even before she had started ranting. Unlike him, she hadn't learned to lie with her eyes. So much the better. In any case, if they didn't find help soon, that might very well happen.

_God, I'm so tired. Why is this happening to me? Haven't I been through enough?_

Gozaburo, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, Dartz, Egypt, now this. Most people didn't deal with this kind of stress until well into their forties and he hadn't even had his nineteenth birthday yet. Why did God hate him so much?

Seto shook his head. It didn't matter. He'd always made his own fate, and he would do so again. Those one-eyed hags might have his life-thread between those scissor blades but he had no intention of just giving up for them.

Melody came back a few minutes later with an armful of firewood bigger than she had any right in carrying and, soon, they had a fire going closer to the cave and the deer cooking over a green-wood lattice.

"We should reach a village in a few days," he said at length. "If we follow the river."

"Right." Melody picked at the fire, her eyes flickering to the venison crackling over the fire. "How long after that?"

"Two or three weeks." It was a long shot and they both knew it. The gangrene was spreading faster than he had expected. He couldn't feel his elbow very well, could barely move his fingers, and every breath felt like a six-inch blade through his lungs.

"We need to find a village soon," Melody said. "The meat's ready. We'll save the rest. Here."

"GAH!" He spat the steaming meat out into his hand and she laughed.

"It just came off the fire, blue eyes."

"Shut up." A couple more flips and he stuffed the piece in his mouth before reaching for another. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have eaten this much but, out here, away from at least the option of eating, he realized how hungry he really got.

"Do you mind me calling me you 'blue eyes'?" she asked.

"Oh, what I think matters now?"

"Of course not. I was just curious." She tilted her head. "So?"

"Whatever."

"'Whatever' meaning…'no', you don't mind?"

"It's better than some things I've been called."

"Like what? Or are they things you can't say in front of a lady?"

"If that was the only requirement, I'd tell you all of them."

"Ha ha, you make my side split. Here." She held out another piece of meat. "You need this more than I do."

"I'm fine, Melody."

"I can't eat it."

Ah. That must be the fawn. Seto ate it without another word, feeling slightly guilty that the young meat tasted better than any gourmet meal he'd ever had. She must have seen the look on his face because she gave a sad smile.

"Good?"

"Yes."

"Good." Melody brought her knees up to her chin and sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. It's just…I've tried my whole life to help people and…this morning was just one more thing I couldn't do."

Seto swallowed the rest of the meat and grabbed a handful of snow to wash it down. He didn't quite trust that river.

"Well, you are rather pathetic. Always flailing about every little thing."

"I do not!"

"Please, I've counted at least four temper tantrums since the crash."

"Well what about you? How many times have you gone on those stupid king-on-the-mountain trips of yours?"

"Ah, but I'm a spoiled rich brat. I'm allowed to do that."

"But I'm not."

"Right. You have to live in the real world full of poor, little people and act like a responsible adult while I, a young, egotistical billionaire, can throw tantrums, date four different women at once, get another four pregnant, get arrested, go club-hopping at three in the morning, and act like a complete idiot because that's what people expect of me."

He let his hand fall, panting, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're not bitter."

"Never. I—" Violent coughs racked his frame and he leaned over on his side, hacking into the dirt. Melody rushed to his side, rubbing snow into the back of his neck.

"I know the tabloids are mean but I didn't think they earned this kind of reaction."

"No," he wheezed. "They deserve a lot worse." He hawked a loogie and sat up, wincing but pushing away her hands.

"Well, that was real sexy," she said.

"Thought you'd like that."

"You up to walking some?"

"We need to get moving," he said, coughing again.

"That's not what I asked."

Seto looked at her sideways.

"Ya know, I think I might've liked the bratty Melody better."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll flail about something else later. Character traits never stay buried for long. On your feet."

"Pushy wench."

"Arrogant jerk."

"Hag."

Rolling her eyes, Melody slipped her arm under his before he had the chance to sway.

"Yeah, you're feeling a lot better."

But he wasn't. By nightfall, pain racked his body stronger than anything he could remember. His fever raged higher and higher every hour, drenching him in cold, clammy sweat. Nearly all of his weight rested on Melody now. He could barely drag his feet more than a few inches at a time.

At last, the girl tripped on an upturned rock and they both crashed to the ground.

"No, Blue Eyes, come on." She tugged at his arm. "Come on, get up."

"Wait…wait a…" He coughed again, his eyes tightly shut.

"Okay, Seto. Rest here for a minute. I'm gonna go look for some shelter, okay? Don't die."

She should've known. Diseases always felt worse once the sun set and the bitter cold that enveloped the land certainly didn't help the situation. Lifting her head, she reached out for any sign of their pursuers. Darkness that had nothing to do with the night clouded her senses. She couldn't feel anything, not even…Seto.

"Blue Eyes?" she called. She hurried back to Seto, finding him in the same position as before. He pried one blue eye open.

"Find…anything?" he asked.

"No. Nothing. And I don't like this darkness. I have no idea how close they are. It's too soon to light a fire." She felt deaf and blind, an unfamiliar and extremely disconcerting sensation, but she would just have to deal. "Come here, Blue Eyes. Oh, you're burning up. Come here."

With firm, gentle hands, and only a few stumbles, Melody dragged Seto to a spot where three trees formed a semi-sheltered corner. He lurched in her arms, trembling, panting, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"Melody…"

"Yeah, I'm here. Work with me, dolt."

It took a fair bit of finagling but she finally had him sitting up against a tree, using her shoulder as a pillow with his long legs curled underneath him. He pressed into her neck, searching for warmth despite the fire that flooded his skin.

"Come on, where's that Kaiba arrogance? You haven't insulted me in three hours."

The wind picked up, howling against the back of the trees. He shook even more violently, coughing into her chest. His skin looked almost blue in the pale moonlight, his lips dry and cracked. Melody put her hand over his face and rubbed his cheek.

"Come on, talk to me. Tell me about your brother. Tell me about Mokuba."

"I didn't…call him."

"What?"

"I didn't…call him after…the meeting. I could've said…sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

Seto tried to swallow but he didn't have enough spit for it to do any good.

"I've…been so busy…holding the company…together…I don't even…have dinner with him…"

"Well, we can change the bet then. When we get back, you eat dinner with me and Mokuba and we watch a movie together. That sound good?"

He pressed harder into her neck. His breathing sounded raspy and far too quiet to her ears. The night weighed down on her chest, choking her, numbing her. This wasn't natural darkness. Something in the air made her skin crawl, a pervasive feeling of wrongness. Someone had conjured this darkness, this night that was blacker than natural black. Maybe it was Bakura, maybe not. She couldn't tell.

But she could feel his strength fading. The bright, blue light she always saw in her mind when he approached felt cold. The flame flickered low in her arms and all she could do was watch. She briefly thought of giving him some of her blood, as Logan had with Leech, but that only worked with mutants. Seto wasn't. Her blood would kill him. His body would reject it, attack his own cells until he disintegrated from the inside out. They could still make it to a village tomorrow if they were fast enough. He had a chance.

"Melody…"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you leave…New York?"

Melody squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking out the corners.

"I um…that notebook, you remember? The one I almost got killed for?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, a friend of mine drew that for me. It's the only drawing from her I have. She was so cool. She had a pet iguana that would just whip people with her tail and one time she put her on top of my brother's head and she dug her claws into him and wrapped her tail around his neck."

He gave a weak laugh.

"S'funny."

"Yeah. She didn't like me, though. Most animals like me really well but whenever I looked at her, she would close that eye and just ignore me."

"Can't imagine…why."

"Yeah. Anyway, about…two years ago she was diagnosed with leukemia. She was okay for a while, got treatment, it went into remission." She bit her lip hard to keep from sobbing. She tasted blood. "Then it came back. Then she got better again then she slipped. She died this past February."

She unconsciously tightened her grip and he grunted.

"Sorry."

"What…was her name?"

"Katelan. She was the best artist I'd ever met. She could draw my characters just from me telling her about 'em. And her stories! Seto, her stories were the best! I'd kill to be able to write like her. All the adventure and the characters and descriptions…oh wow, I felt so honored just to hear about them while she was writing 'em. She would email me the latest chapters when she was at the hospital."

She nuzzled against him, a few traitorous drops escaping.

"I feel so helpless," she whispered. "I couldn't help her. I can't help you. I have all the power of the universe at my fingertips and I can't even save a spoiled brat."

"Tell me…about your family…"

"Oh…well…there's my mom and dad, my older sister, my twin brother, and my younger sister. You'd like Justin; you two are a lot alike. And Grace is so cute! I've tried to teach her a lot but then I heard…then I came to New York. My mom's real stubborn. She's a colonel, ya know, so I guess that fits. Cali's all prim and proper and tries to act too old all the time. And Ada's such a brat! He can be a perfect gentlemen, totally in control of everything one minute, then turns around and dyes his friend's hair pink cause he felt like it."

Seto took a raspy breath.

"Gozaburo…gave these to me. I was…never…good enough…"

He trailed off and Melody tightened her grip.

"No, Blue Eyes, stay with me."

"…it…hurts…"

"I know, hon. I know." She frantically searched her mind for something, anything for him to latch onto, then he slumped against her chest, unconscious. Her tears flowed more freely now and she tightened her grip. Dawn could not come soon enough.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_October 24-25_

Atemu and Mokuba continued the search for Bakura with renewed vigor. But the Thief King had effectively dropped off the radar. They got to the point where they were asking random people on the street if they'd seen him or Ryou, though most recognized him as Bakura from Battle City. But nobody had heard or seen anything in Domino, Kyoto, or any of the smaller towns on the outskirts.

The search for Mokuba was going fine though. Several times, Atemu had to shove the boy into the floorboards to avoid a passing police or Kaiba Corp company car. Finally they decided to go to Tokyo where Atemu could scry for the thief and Mokuba could hunt for his brother. They hated to leave their friends in the hospital, but there was nothing they could do for them at the moment.

Granpa Moto arrived in Domino late that afternoon, a veritable ball of righteous fury, angry at Atemu for not calling, angry at the piranhas at Kaiba Corp, angry at the airlines for taking so long, and, of course, angry at that "disgusting scoundrel" of a thief.

In the end, Atemu decided it would be best to lie low for a while. Perhaps Bakura would get careless and surface. So the three of them withdrew from the streets. Granpa went to stay with the kids at the hospital and the Pharaoh turned his attention to Mokuba's hacking into the company mainframe. Unfortunately, they had no way of saving Seto without Seto, and they couldn't get a hold of anyone for Melody. They had tried to call New York thirteen times, run up a hundred and fifty dollar phone bill, and spent the entire time on hold. The thief king's shadow influence, it seemed, reached much farther than local manipulation.

Then, one annoyingly pretty night, Atemu went for take out.

"Just what we needed," he muttered, grateful for the chance to clear his head. He hated this hurry-up-and-wait garbage but as Pharaoh, he understood that sometimes one had to wait for the enemy to come to them. But those kids at the hospital wouldn't last much longer. Four relapses in as many days. Bakurah wasn't just keeping them out of the picture. He was draining them to make sure of it. And each time, Atemu was two steps too late.

Atemu shook his head. He wished he could do more. For now, he could get food. Later…As much as he hated it, he would have to worry about later, later.

"Hello, sir, what can I get you?" The perky adolescent boy behind the counter smiled through his braced teeth at Atemu.

"Three number ones, please." He counted out the money then waited for the order to finish. He'd take the food to Grandpa first then go back to the Game Shop for Mokuba.

"Order up."

He thanked the boy, taking the bag in his left hand, then suddenly a wave of wrongness slammed into him and he raced off in the direction of the Game Shop.

"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no…" Mokuba clutched his chest with his right hand, squeezing his eyes shut. With his left hand, he closed his laptop and shoved it away. He'd been at this for six hours. He' never find his brother. Seto would die without ever knowing everything he wanted to say to him, and he'd condemned an innocent girl to death. He could just picture them, their bodies curled and frozen to the ground, blood oozing them from their mouths, bullet holes all over…

Mokuba gasped, his eyes flying open. Oh God, he couldn't breathe. His mouth opened and closed, his throat going into spasms. He gripped his shirt tighter, his chest heaving.

_Lord, help me…please…_

His vision bled to black. He couldn't see. He couldn't breathe. His head started to lighten and he felt like he was floating.

"Mokuba!"

Rough hands pulled him up into a sitting position.

"Mokuba, look at me."

He blinked, his eyes deciding to like him again, and saw Atemu standing over him.

"Mokuba, listen to me. Hang onto my voice, all right?"

His eyes threatened to roll back but Atemu grabbed his head and forced him to look at him.

"Breathe, Mokuba. You're fine. Your brother's coming for you, okay? Melody's taking good care of him. He's fine. And we're doing all we can here. You're doing a good job. I couldn't ask for a better helper with this. You've been such a good kid through all of this. You're doing a fantastic job. And I'm sorry I've been asking you to do so much but I appreciate it, and your brother will too. Breathe, child. Come on."

For thirty-five minutes, the Egyptian talked to Mokuba, forced him to focus on his voice. Mokuba started breathing easier, erratically at first, then, slowly, the boy felt himself calming down.

"I'm okay," he finally whispered. His eyelids fluttered, obscuring the Pharaoh's concerned expression. Mokuba tried a small smile. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"You scared me." Atemu sat next to him on the couch, still stroking his head. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it happens sometimes." Mokuba licked his lips and cautiously took a deep breath. This time, he got the air he needed. "I used to get panic attacks a lot when I was little. All the stress from Gozaburo…unh…this one was bad…"

"Panic attacks. So that's what they call them nowadays." Atemu opened the bag of Japanese take-out and handed Mokuba his combo.

"Yeah. Seto was only there for a couple of them…I convinced him that they didn't happen anymore after that…so he wouldn't worry."

"That's very brave, little one."

"I'm not that little." Another tiny grin. "Taller than you."

"Indeed. Eat your lunch."

But the boy was asleep, his fork of white rice still in his hand. Atemu smiled softly, put the food on the coffee table, and laid Mokuba down on the couch.

"Sleep well, little one. You've earned it."

Covering him up, Atemu went to put the food away then called to check on Grandpa before going to bed himself. He needed a nap after that too.

~~*~~

Melody awoke that morning to the sound of snow crunching.

"You hear that, Blue Eyes?" She shifted then sat up, cold and completely alone.

"Seto?! Seto, where are you?"

"Right here, Melody."

She turned to see Seto leaning against one of their shelter trees. He couldn't lift his head up very high, and his face looked pale and drawn, but he was standing. That was better than he had been last night. He must either have a will of adamantium or a very insistent bladder.

"Oh. Don't do that to me. I thought…"

The brunette offered a weak smirk.

"Don't tell me you were actually worried."

"Course not. You were keeping me warm, that's all."

"Right." Seto closed his eyes, steadying himself. "We need to go."

"Right. Okay." The girl stood up, brushing the snow off her pants, then shivered. "Wow, the wind's a bit chilly today, huh?"

Seto watched her with dull, listless eyes.

"Sorry," she said. "Come on." Hurrying forward, she slipped his good arm over her shoulder and started leading him down the hill. He needed the support. Not even a half an hour into the walk, he had nearly his entire weight on her and it was all she could do not to stagger.

"You've never let me help you this much," she said glibly. "Course I've only known you two weeks. Long enough to hate you I guess, isn't it?" She paused, pursing her lips. "Come on, Blue Eyes, talk to me."

Seto focused hard on the ground in front of his feet, each step another adventure in pain and nausea.

"Sorry, Melody. Guess I'm not up to the banter today."

"That's what worries me. You've given me some pretty good scares the last couple days." Melody searched his face for any sign of the arrogance she'd come to know and detest, a smirk, a mean look, even an unnerving stare. All she saw was an exhausted teenage guy. An exhausted teenage guy that might not make it till next week. She should have called the X-Men when she had the chance but it was too late. They would never get here in time and teleportation would kill him. There was nothing she could do.

Melody bit her lip hard.

"Please, don't leave me, Seto. I don't…I can't go through that again."

Seto slowed to a stop.

"I'm tired, Melody."

"I know you are. I know you're hurting but, please, hang on a little longer. I promised I'd take care of you, okay? Please?"

The brunette managed to look at her without his vision swimming and something in her eyes reached out to him. The eyes of a scared, trembling little girl. Broken memories of the night before flitted back to him and he softened his gaze.

He nodded slightly once then started walking again.

"I'll try."

"Okay." Those gorgeous, trembling amber eyes brightened the slightest bit and he felt her arm tighten around his waist. "Just a little farther, then we can stop and rest."

A shot ripped through the air. Melody screamed and whirled around.

"How did they find us?!" she cried. "I covered our tracks and everything!"

"You've been with me the whole time…"

"Never mind!" Tightening her grip, Melody half-carried, half-dragged Seto along. Another shot. She lurched, screaming, and he fell to the ground. He grunted at the impact, his shoulder opening. Above him, Melody stood wielding a large stick like a sword, blood pouring down her back. Beyond her, he could see barely make out one of the mercenaries hiding in the trees. Seto struggled to stand, stumbling, before rising shakily to his feet.

"Run!" Melody yelled. She swung the stick as if to hit the man that was too far out of range. The man flew backwards.

"I'm not…running from them."

"Don't argue; just run!" She motioned violently away from the mercenaries and for an instant, he didn't hurt so much.

"Run, Blue Eyes!" Another wave of her hand shoved him forward. "RUN, you idiot!"

Strength somehow leaked back into his limbs and he ran. He could hear them gaining, feel their feet pounding the earth. A bullet struck the dirt by his feet. Another hit a tree. Splinters cut his cheek. He winced, slipped. He glanced behind him, panting, his heart in his throat. A twig snapped. He turned back to see another man no older than he.

"Game over."

But he never heard the bullet.

"Seto?" Melody watched him fall, her heart sinking as he collapsed.

"Seto!"

More men attacked, punching, kicking, shooting, and she threw herself into the fight. Hot, delicious anger welled up in her chest, flooding her body. Her skin began to darken. Her bones shifted, grew. Grabbing one with a clawed hand, she opened her mouth, relishing the ache of stretching fangs. He screamed, flailing for his gun, and she bit hard into his neck. Blood from the shoulder muscle spurted out past her jaws and she dropped him in an unconscious heap. Growling, she turned to the others, who now stood frozen in shock.

They didn't last much longer than the first man. Finally, when all the men had been dealt with, she ran to Seto and rolled him onto his back. He lay there, gasping, blood trickling form the corner of his mouth, his eyes glazed.

"No!" She cried, her yellow eyes filling with tears. "No, Seto, you promised! You promised!"

Melody stopped short and lifted her trembling hands.

"Bloody hands…" She looked down at Seto, feeling the snow crunch under her knees. She looked around helplessly at the bodies that lay around the clearing. Blood, thick, dark, and revoltingly tantalizing poured out onto the snow, some from them, some from the men. Blood. Her blood. It would probably kill him but if she didn't do something, he was dead anyway.

_Here goes nothing_.

Carefully slipping her hand under his neck, she leaned down. His pulse beat weakly against her fingers. He couldn't even gasp anymore but she could smell his skin, a cold, clammy, sick smell. He was slipping into shock.

_Forgive me, Seto_.

She closed her fangs around his throat, quickly sliding the small, hollow, venom fangs into his veins. He gagged, his blood flowing into her mouth. It tasted delicious, yet…horrible. She reached into herself, into him, and slowly, the bleeding stopped. Two swift tears and her own blood started trickling through the fangs. She waited.

_Come on, come on! Don't die on me, you pretentious prick!_

On the very edge of her awareness, she could feel nerves and tissues surge back to life, knitting together like a geopet on steroids. The bullet shuddered once, twice, three times. It twisted in a spiral up to the surface through the wound track until it broke the already closing skin.

Suddenly an image of a roaring dragon slammed into her. She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to hold on. The dragon roared again. Seto inhaled sharply and started coughing.

"AAAGH!!"

She reared back. Voices and pictures flooded her mind. Someone struck her. She hit the dirt hard. A boy—Yugi? Joey?—screamed for her, called a name that wasn't hers. A child tugged at her hand. Car tires screeched.

"_Dad! Where's Dad? What happened?"_

"_Mokuba, stay here!"_

Someone hit her again, lashing into her back. She roared, clawed at the dirt, crawling away.

"_Stay where you are, you little brat!"_

"_Burn this into your brain, Seto! This is what happens to losers!"_

Monsters screamed around her, drawings come to life, drooling, roaring, swiping. Another strike. She arched her back, feeling blood drip down her spine.

"_SETO!!"_

She collapsed in the snow, sobbing, pulling her hair, until darkness claimed her mind.

~~*~~

When Bakura woke that night, he Knew Kaiba was still alive. He didn't know how exactly, he just did, like the exact time to hit a person's chest to stop their heart, or the right word to bring an emperor to his knees. This time, the white-haired thief slipped into Ryou's body like a pale jumpsuit and stood. Shadows played around his fingertips, sweeping back from his ankles as he walked to the window.

"Looks like I'll have to do it myself. Again." He raised his hand, peering at the moon through his fingers. Power swelled beneath his skin, up through his spine to his fingertips.

"_Auribus teneo lupum_."

A presence rose up from behind him. A growl vibrated through the floorboards. He smiled.

"_Damnatio memoriae_."

The power shifted, poised to vanish into the night, then Bakura gasped, doubling over. "Ryou!" The boy had to choose now, of all times, to wake up. Bakura swore loudly in Egyptian as he hit his knees. The power started seeping into the ground.

"No! _Damnatio memoriae!_ I called and you will do as bidden!"

He felt Ryou thrash against the barrier. It wasn't just instincts now. The boy was awake, and _praying_. He must have slipped back into his old habits. Bakura gritted his teeth, phantom screams erupting in his mind. He fell to his hands.

"_Damnatio memoriae!_ Kill Seto Kaiba! Erase him from history!"

The praying got faster. The screams got louder. Blood dripped down to his lips and onto the carpet, staining his pale hands.

"Do as you're told! Kill him! Kill them both!"

Now he was quoting the Lord's Prayer, in too much pain to think of his own. Bakura clenched his fists and leaned his pounding head on his forearms. More blood seeped from his back, his legs, his shoulders, even his stomach. The screams got louder, as if beings wanted to rip him from the inside out.

"Ryou…please, stop…"

A small drop of blood slid down his cheek.

"Ryou…_please!_"

The power surged one last time, its fanged snout rising in an eerie howl. Bakura screamed, Ryou cried out in English, and as one they passed out.

The next morning, Ryou woke up on a clean carpet with claw marks covering his back and stomach. That afternoon, a pack of wolves attacked a small Russian village.

There were no survivors.

The next day found Mokuba weary but functional and he decided to spend the day at the hospital with Grandpa. The kids, Grandpa told him, had made it sixteen hours without any of them bottoming out or destabilizing, which, according to the doctors, was a record. Then, late last night, all of them crashed. The doctors couldn't explain it but one of them suggested Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy so Grandpa was banned from seeing any of the children. The old man was beside himself but the staff would not relent. Mokuba ended up sitting with him in the waiting room, playing Duel Monsters to pass the time.

However, Atemu would not stay.

"I think I know what happened," he said. "Bakura is losing energy and what physical energy Ryou has, he needs to save that for the ritual. Last night, Bakura cast some sort of spell and I think he siphoned energy from the kids to power it."

"Can you trace it?" Grandpa asked.

"I think so. But it would be best if I went alone. I know his moves better than anyone and I don't want anyone else hurt, if I can help it. I'll check in with you later."

So Mokuba sat, hunched and hiding within a hooded sweatshirt that was entirely too big for him, trying to keep a low profile while, at the same time, trying to talk Granpa Moto off the ledge.

"Looks like you win again, Mr. Moto." Mokuba tossed his hand of cards onto the table and sat back. Grandpa just sighed.

"It's my fault, you know."

"What is?"

"Ryou."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Moto, you can't…"

"Yes, I can. I knew that boy needed friends the day Yugi said they had a new boy in class. And he had a Millennium Item. You'd think I'd want to talk to him just for that but even if I wasn't so obsessed with Egypt, I should've welcomed him as a friend of my grandson. I failed." The old man leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead.

"I just can't help wondering if I had taken a little more initiative, Bakura might not feel like he needed to do this."

"Well, it's all our faults, really," Mokuba said heavily. "We all talk so much about friendship but we didn't do such a hot job, did we?"

"No."

"So what do we do?"

Grandpa took both of Mokuba's hands in both of his.

"What anyone who feels hopeless does. We pray."

Mokuba blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know you were a Christian."

"I'm not, but I do pray."

Mokuba wanted to ask "But to what God?" but the old man had already closed his eyes. The teenager rubbed his lips together then bowed his head and prayed for the fiftieth time that day.

~~*~~

_**The road goes ever on and on…**_

"Logan! Don't let him get away!"

"I got it I got it! Bobby! Cut him off!"

"rrrrrAAAAAAAA!!!!"

-bu-bump……bu-bump……bu-bump-

_**Down from the door where it began…**_

"_Henion aniron, boe amen i dulu lin. Boe amen veriad lin…_"

-wham!-

"Ruco, your hands!"

-bu-bump…bu-bump…bu-bump-

"_Skagreech casta bailya! Nee chai! Nee kail!_"

_**And where it leads I do not know…**_

"Half my heart to make you whole..."

-bu-bump bu-bump bu-bump bu-bump bu-bump-

"My strength to purify your weakness."

_**But I must follow if I can…**_

"_Lasto bath nin, tolo dan na ngalad._"

He gasped awake, his eyes flying open. What happened? Where was he? All he remembered was the sky going dark and some white-haired figure hovering high above the river, the wind whipping her black uniform back and forth like a bratty child swatting at a plaything just out of reach.

No. No, that wasn't right. He'd never even seen the woman before.

Wait, yes, he had. Two years ago, he'd gone to a place in New York for collegiate high school. The woman had been one of his favorite teachers.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to steady his breathing. That wasn't right, either. He had taken what he needed with private tutors. Besides, he couldn't just leave Mokuba when he was just starting high school.

But he'd left Grace behind, hadn't he? No, he hadn't. He didn't even know Grace.

So why then could he remember playing with her when she was little? Riding with her through the forest?

He slowly sat up, wincing. Why did everything hurt so much? Why couldn't he see? Why could he see so _well_? It was like someone was flicking a light switch. One minute, sounds and smells and sights flooded his spinning brain and the next, everything was quiet save for the ringing in his ears.

Nausea gripped his stomach; threatening to empty what food he had the hard way. And, with the nausea, came a throbbing headache, the shooting stabbing kind right in his temples.

_Don't throw up. Just don't throw up or pass out and you'll be good_.

Yeah. Sure.

The world went bright again and his nose was suddenly filled with the strongest, most disgusting smell he'd ever experienced.

_Blood_, his mind supplied. He felt this surge of…something. Revulsion, maybe? Exhilaration? He seriously hoped the former as he looked around. To his right, trees, trees, and more trees. To his left…

His mouth went dry. Bodies, he couldn't tell how many, lay mangled all around the clearing. The men—mercenaries?—were wounded but alive and he felt both disappointed and pleased. Blood covered everything, the trees, the snow, his…clothes? No. Everything looked normal.

He pulled at his shirt, cold and slick with a substance that could only be more blood. The center was ragged, torn, so the blood must be his. But his skin wasn't broken…was it?

Bewildered, he checked the skin underneath and saw, at the same time, his perfectly whole chest and a gushing, horrible mess. He suppressed a shudder and made to get to his feet when something brushed up against his leg. When he looked, he dearly wished he hadn't.

"Melody!" He felt he was at once calling the pallid, limp-bodied woman and some part of himself. He anxiously checked her pulse. For a few agonizing seconds, there was nothing. His throat clenched.

"Wake up, Tigress. Wake up."

There! The slightest drumming against his fingertips. It was weak, erratic, but it was there, accompanied by shallow, steady breathing. He nodded, letting out a tense sigh of relief, before wrapping her up in his coat.

Sounds, images of running and fighting strange men filled his brain. They were in danger. Or…by looking at those bodies, _had_ been. They weren't dead but they wouldn't follow. He should have killed them but somehow that went against everything he believed. That didn't make sense though. He never had a problem killing when his brother was in danger.

Something hard and cold slid against his chest and he felt a slip of metal. A locket. He clicked it open to reveal a little dark haired boy with gray eyes and the cutest smile he'd ever seen.

_Mokuba_.

For a brief moment, his mind cleared. The crash. The chase. The fight. The…bullet. A warm tingly feeling seemed to creep up from behind in a sort of invisible hug and he glanced down at Melody. More images threatened to crowd in but for a few seconds, he managed to stifle them.

_I have to get back to Mokuba_.

Suddenly a sharp snap rent the air. Blue eyes steeled over as he carefully lifted Melody into his arms. That same warm feeling pulled him to the southwest and he set off.

He carried Melody south all that afternoon and deep into the night. His long legs ate up the ground at a much faster pace than before. He remembered stumbling and weaving around like a drunk man, his shoulder killing him and slimy fire raging through his system. But he also remembered holding himself, helping himself walk as if he were a separate entity. Moments of clarity started coming more and more, and his addled mind began to piece things back together. Melody had been the one to help him walk and he had actually had blood poisoning. She had challenged him to a fight at the dojo last week and he bet her she couldn't hold her own at the dinner. Things before that were a bit hazy. Images of a little blonde girl playing or the rush of piloting a Rogue Squadron X-Wing through subspace or sounds of ballads older than King Arthur were all familiar, unnervingly so, but they couldn't be his. They didn't have that kind of thing in Japan or anywhere else.

Some part of him said that all of that was from Melody. They had connected on a telepathic level. He didn't like the idea at all but it was scientifically possible if he found the right people. Besides, it was the only logical explanation. The woman in his arms just wasn't that good at hypnotism or brainwashing.

_But those Jedi mind tricks_. He couldn't quite wrap his head around that. He wanted to say the girl in his arms was just a rabid fangirl, a child obsessed with American-born trends. But she believed too strongly and loved too much for memories of a Jedi Temple on Coruscant or the Hall of Fire in Rivendell to be anything but real. He didn't understand how it was possible, though. The transfer or whatever happened didn't offer that much information but the dreams of a father, mother, brother, sisters…his chest ached at the very idea of them. He missed them. He missed people he had never met.

"You're very lucky, Melody," he said, glancing down. "There was a time I would have killed for that."

She shifted, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. He recognized the gesture as a feral sign of trust. _Feral_. Another term he was unfamiliar with, at least in this context. He'd have to ask her what exactly her mutation entailed. He understood on an…instinctual level, but he wanted some numbers to go with it. Of course, if it were true, then that meant she was a telepath, a telekinetic, and an animalistic shapeshifter involved with Tolkien nobility, the Jedi Order, the New Republic, and the X-Men. It sounded like a badly written fanfiction with one of those annoying Mary-Sue's that could do anything and everything. He smirked. Melody was anything but perfect.

Wait…why did he know what a Mary-Sue was?

Melody let out a soft whimper, squirming.

"Nana…Otouto-san…"

Otouto-san. Seto pursed his lips.

"My father's dead, Melody."

She whimpered again.

"Don't start," he said softly. "It doesn't bother me. I turned out all right. And I've done what I can for Mokuba…although he's pretty much raised himself the last few years. Yugi's a better brother than I am. He's always looking out for him, making sure he's okay at school or at tournaments." He sighed and looked up at the stars. He didn't recognize any of them.

Suddenly he stopped walking.

"Smoke. Do you smell that?" He cast around, eyes frantically searching the dark. There! He could just see a chimney peeking through the trees and he ran. Melody inhaled sharply, surprised even when out cold, and he tightened his grip. A small village spread out before him, the river a steady rushing sound beyond his sight. Seto hurried to the closest home, a fair-sized clapboard and stone house with a paddock out to the side for a few dozen sheep.

"Hello?" he called. "Hello, is anyone home?" He repeated himself in Russian, then German, and finally a groggy-eyed man with a healthy beard came to the door.

"Who are you?" the man growled in Russian. "What do you want?"

Seto bowed his head to the man, careful to stay below the man's eye level.

"I apologize for the hour. Please. Our jet crashed and we need somewhere to stay for the night."

The man's eyes widened when he saw Melody, curled in Seto's arms and pale as a sheet of paper.

"Of course, of course, come in." He ushered them in to his wife, a rosie-cheeked, healthy woman in a flannel nightgown who took Melody without another word. The next thirty minutes was a whirlwind to Seto, the couple cleaning, feeding, and mending them before he could say a word. Some part of him recognized the comforting, if blustering atmosphere, but Seto sat back, wide-eyed and gape-jawed. It was only when they shoved them both upstairs to a hastily prepared pallet in the attic that Seto had time to digest what just happened.

Still shaking his head and feeling much better now that he had showered and shaved, Seto flopped back onto the pallet. Melody lay next to him, curled under a mound of woolen blankets that reeked of animals. He rolled over on his side, propping his head on his hand, and reached over to brush some hair out of her face.

"You saved my life, Melody. Thank you."

She really was a pretty girl. He wouldn't say a pretty woman though. Not yet. She still enjoyed being a kid too much.

"Lucky wench." Seto brushed her hair back one more time then settled into the pillows and fell asleep.

~~*~~

Seto awoke to a loud clunk, followed by a hushed string of curses. He looked around, seeing the empty spot next to him, then looked back towards the stairs. He smiled, a strange sense of relief filling him. She was awake.

"For an X-Woman, you're not very graceful."

Another thunk and Melody popped her head up with a bright, welcome smile.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Failing at climbing the ladder one handed." Her other hand came up holding something round. It jerked when she slipped but she somehow managed to hoist herself onto the attic floor. She crawled over to him and sat down.

"What's this?" he asked. Instead of answering, the girl set the round object down and reached into her pocket. A match flared to life, revealing a small muffin and half of an already burnt candle. She lit the candle and slid the treat closer to him.

"Happy birthday, Seto."

He blinked, speechless. It was his birthday already? But…that couldn't be right. He did the math in his head and blinked again, his mouth turning into a slight smile. Leaning forward, he blew out the candle. The thick smell of burnt candle wax filled the air and she waved it away.

"It's some kind of fruit," she said. "I couldn't find any chocolate."

"That's okay." He picked up the muffin and pulled it in two. "Here."

"No, it's your muffin."

"Here."

She took her half of the muffin and nibbled at it.

"So are you eighteen or nineteen?"

"Nineteen. How are you feeling?"

"A little groggy but okay." Melody tilted her head at him and grinned. He couldn't help but grin back.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Thank you. Are you up to walking?"

"No need."

"What?"

"I talked with Sergei, the guy downstairs, and he said he'd drive us to the coast. It's not Novosobirsk but we can barter passage to Hong Kong."

"You've been busy."

"Well, I didn't think you'd want to get on a plane."

"No, not really." Seto tilted his head in an almost mirror image of her. "How long have you been awake?"

Melody gave him a coy little grin.

"It's almost dawn. Time to go."

"Right. Melody?"

"Yo?"

He swallowed, chewing on his bottom lip.

"You're not stupid…or weak…I shouldn't have yelled at you."

The girl smiled and glanced down at her hands.

"It's what you heard growing up. It's what he told you."

"That doesn't make it right."

She shrugged, still smiling.

"So my friend Katie Lebeau is real good at snooping. Whatcha think of her trying to dig up some dirt on Elsa and Siegfried? I mean, me hearing a merc mentally swear at Elsa isn't really court-worthy."

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good."

"Cool. Let's go then."

He followed her down the stairs/ladder to find the old man dressed in a red plaid flannel shirt, brown pants, and well-loved hiking boots.

"Ready to go then?"

"Yes," Seto answered. "Thank you so much for this. We owe you."

"It's not a problem, boy. Your lady friend explained everything."

"That's right," his wife agreed. "Your brother needs you. We're only too happy to help."

"We'll pay you back," Melody said. "Or…he'll pay you back because I don't really have a job."

The couple just laughed.

"Right, then. Let's go." The old man clunked out to the rickety truck and soon they were on their way to the coast.

"We're gonna have to stow away, aren't we?" Melody said in Japanese.

"Probably. Does that bother you?"

"No, not really. Can' believe you forgot it was your birthday."

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to. Now shut up. I'm taking a nap."

"You just slept for twelve hours!"

"I'm a recovering anemic. Now hush." With that, Melody claimed his arm as a pillow and closed her eyes. Seto raised an eyebrow at the old man, who just grinned.

"She certainly seems like a handful," he said. "That girl has a lot of spirit."

"Yes, she does. Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here."

Seto rolled his eyes and settled in for the drive. Yeah. For a second there, he thought he actually missed the girl.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_October 25_

_Ryou, you insolent brat! Stop fighting me!_

Ryou ran harder, his hand still clutching the Egyptian dagger Bakura had just lifted from the museum.

"I won't be your pawn any longer!"

_Not at this rate. I'll end up killing you before I'm done with you! I said STOP!_

Ryou's legs locked and he faceplanted into the pavement. He squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to keep control of his body as Bakura slammed him with wave after wave of shadows. Ryou gritted his teeth.

"Oh do give up!"

_No. It's your turn this time_.

Bakura slid into Ryou's body and stood up.

"This is the fourth time in two days you've tried to escape. It's getting old."

_So are those nightmares! I bet that's the same thing those guards said to your family!_

"Don't—" Bakura withdrew into Ryou's soul room and stalked over to the boy.

"—Even go there!" He backed the boy into a corner but unlike before, Ryou met his gaze. "Impudent cur," he growled. "My past is none of your business. Not unless you want me to bring up your pathetic little sister that you still write letters to."

"At least I know if I could talk to her, she would be proud of me. Would your family be proud of you for this?"

Bakura leapt forward and punched Ryou in the side of the head.

"You want to know about my family?" He hauled Ryou up by his neck. Ryou's soul room of dingy plushies and hopeful lights vanished into one long stretch of dark sky. Hot, dry wind swirled around them, blowing Bakura's hair into a wicked mane of devil horns.

"Here!" he said, holding out his arm. "I'll show you!"

He let go, cackling as Ryou fell hundreds of feet to the burning sand below.

"This should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy meeting the folks."

"Yami?" Ryou coughed into the sand and rolled over to see Bakura smirk and disappear.

"YAMIIIII!!"

_Phht!_

"AAGH!!" Ryou scrambled away from the arrow and rolled to his feet. Some screamed and he looked toward the rows of mud brick houses. People ran in every direction, some screaming, some crying. Soldiers dressed in the royal uniform of the Pharaoh chased them with swords and arrows and spears from horseback as body after body fell.

"Oh no…Kuru Eruna…"

"Mama!" A child's cry sounded from his right and he turned just to see a mother scoop up a little boy. A soldier ran up behind them, his sword high over his head.

"No! No, stop!" Ryou ran forward, ready to slam the soldier into the wall, but he fell right through. "No!"

The soldier's sword came down hard and fast through the woman's back. She collapsed and the child in her arms flew forward. Ryou gaped in horror.

"Bakura…"

The little boy screamed and ran off. The soldier chased him then a man with a messed up ponytail jumped in front of him. The little boy dove behind a wall, his eye peeking out just as the sword went through the man's gut.

Ryou slowly shook his head, tears streaming down his face. No. He didn't want to

see this. He didn't want to see them all die.

_Well then_…

The scene shifted to Bakura racing through the desert, palace guards and priests at his back. Then again to a bandit raid on a medieval village. Then again to Bakura stalking out of a burning building with a knife in one hand and a bag of loot in the other. Each time he had a different body, different clothes, but always that same wicked look.

Through it all, Ryou could hear whispers and cracklings just outside his view. With every new scene, the whispers grew louder, joined with horrible, grating laughter.

"That's it…" Ryou clutched his cross necklace, whole again only in his mind, and peered into the shadows. Red eyes and scaly claws scraped the ground behind Bakura. Billowing membranes and clouds of yellow sulfur edged the corners of the buildings.

"Demons…"

Something laughed right behind him, sounding like a little kid playing. Ryou tightened his grip on the cross and closed his eyes.

"Back to my soul room."

One of the shadows clinging to Bakura's back formed a head and looked his way with a growl. Ryou opened his eyes.

"Back to my soul room."

The demon shrieked, flapped its slimy wings, and shot towards him. Ryou took a step backwards.

"Back to my soul room!"

He was falling again, this time landing on the giant pillow that served as his bed. He looked around just to make sure. Yes, there was the broken bookshelf on the other side of the room. Next to that lay a pile of threadbare plushies with holes and missing eyes. Walls rose up around him the color of old paper with cracks and chips in the plaster. It wasn't a pretty room but it was familiar.

Scrambling off the bed, Ryou walked quickly over to the bookshelf and picked up a worn, crumbling Bible.

"Psalms 22:18-20_. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs_."

He closed the Bible and hugged it tight to his chest.

"I need some help, Lord. I changed my mind. I'm not ready to give up yet. Now I know why Bakura hurts so much. It's because of those demons. I get it now. Everything that happened, how he could always come back. But I need some serious help if I'm gonna make him wake up. He's not as bad as he was. He's more desperate than anything else. But he's tired of living like this, going from body to body, all those demons clinging to him. Please, help me. Please please _please_ give me the strength for this."

When Ryou opened his eyes, a single tear slid down his cheek. He put the Bible back on the now mended shelf and turned to look at his soul room. The walls looked a little brighter, the plushies a little less worn, and now he saw a picture of his father next to the bed. Outside, he could feel Bakura ranting and raving although he couldn't pick up any spells so they probably weren't back at the museum yet. Taking a deep breath, Ryou put his hand on the doorknob and walked back into his conscious mind.

~~*~~

"Atemu, I'm fine." Mokuba pulled his hood up over his hair and pulled his bangs down over his eyes. It hid who he was, but it also gave him a distinctive "Cousin It" look.

"I haven't had a panic attack in years, okay?"

Atemu watched him with his arms folded across his chest.

"I bet you said the same thing to your brother. I don't feel comfortable with you going out alone. Why can I not come with you?"

"Because I'm smaller and can fit into the air ducts of Seto's lab. I've done it before. I'll be fine, Temu, nothing's gonna happen to me."

But fate has a quirky sense of humor. No sooner had Mokuba opened the door than a fist had him face down in the carpet.

"Mokuba!" Atemu rushed forward but a tall blonde in a suit backhanded him into the wall. He surged back onto his feet and tackled the blonde man. They went tumbling onto the kitchen floor, grappling for a handhold. Mokuba yelled something he shouldn't know and grabbed the blonde around his neck. Another man hauled the boy up by his sweatshirt.

"No!" Atemu screamed. "Don't hurt him!" He elbowed the blonde in the face but the suit recovered and quickly pinned him underneath. "Hurt him and I'll kill you!"

"Do not worry, _Herr_ Moto. We wouldn't dream of harming the boy." A pale pink shoe stepped into Atemu's vision. Beyond, Mokuba struggled even harder, nearly choking himself on his own hoody.

"Siegfried, you disgusting bastard!" Mokuba snarled. "You'll pay for this! I swear to God!"

The Austrian clucked his tongue in disapproval and grabbed Mokuba's chin in a slender, gloved hand.

"You shouldn't talk like that. It's not nice. Agh!" Siegfried flinched, wiping a large gob of spit off his cheek. "You filthy, pathetic, little cretin!" He locked his hand around Mokuba's throat.

"Mr. von Schroider!" The suit holding Mokuba tightened his grip. "Ms. Seiler's waiting."

"Yes." Siegfried pat Mokuba's face hard then straightened his clothes. "Yes, you are right. Come then, Brunholt. We must get _Herr_ Kaiba back home."

"What about this one, sir?"

"_Herr_ Moto, you are a smart man." Siegfried motioned to the blonde, who hauled Atemu to his feet. "I suggest you discontinue your dealings with the Kaiba household. It could prove…unpleasant for you."

"Threats from a walking cotton candy stick won't work on me."

"Then let me be frank. Stay away or I will have my men personally pull the curtain on every one of your little friends in the hospital, including your darling little brother. Is that clear enough for you?"

Atemu closed his mouth but kept glaring. Siegfried heaved a martyr's sigh.

"Have it your way. Chavis. Perhaps you can make our point in a clearer manner."

"No!" Mokuba screamed. "No, leave him alone! Atemu!"

"I'll be all right, Mokuba. Just don't give up hope!"

"No! Atemu!" The youngest Kaiba braced his feet on the doorframe and kicked back before getting smacked in the head. "YAMI!!"

Bakura looked up at the distant, distant cry. His lips curved into a slow smile.

"How does it feel, Pharaoh? To have absolutely no one? To hear a child cry for you and have no way of helping?"

_Oh, like you ever helped a child_.

The thief sighed.

"You know, ever since you turned eighteen, you've grown increasingly annoying."

_Maybe I'm finally learning from you_.

"Catty." Sweeping his hair out of his face, Bakura crouched down at the edge of the circle and swept his eyes over the room. "Two days ago, you were bawling your eyes out and slitting your arms. Where did these balls come from?"

He felt Ryou flinch at the crude wording and smirked. Ryou always did hate his choice of verbage. But then, he was a master thief, THE master thief. A man can't have a rank that high in the underworld and not know the more disgusting side of life. He didn't usually use such words for insults; he was more creative than that. But the shock value never ceased to amuse him.

"If you're quite done running your mouth, I have a few more things to prepare for tomorrow night."

To his surprise and slight disappointment, Ryou said nothing so Bakura walked around to each point of the pentagram, checking the vials containing the pain and emotions of his latest victims. Shadows swirled around his ankles as he walked, pawing at him.

"It won't be much longer, my pets. Just a little more."

In his soul room, Ryou hugged a stuffed cat tight to his chest. He could hear the cacophony of screeches and moans just outside the door but he wasn't sure Bakura could. He spoke to them, sure, but if he really heard them, he would have run away screaming.

Or maybe he was already past screaming. Maybe he'd heard them for so long, he

didn't know how to live without them. Ryou hugged the cat tighter. The night after next, Bakura had said. The new moon. He was sure it had some sort of other significance, maybe with the Babylonians or, as cliché as it was, the Egyptians, but he didn't know the details. It didn't really matter. He had a couple of more days.

_Lord, help me_.

Taking a deep breath, Ryou stood up and faced the door.

"Bakura, I don't care if you answer or not but…" Trembling fingers reached up to grasp the cross necklace. "I want to tell you about my parents."


	15. Chapter 15

_Warning: This story, as a whole, is rated Teen. That said, this chapter is much, MUCH darker than any of the others, and it shows just how far some people can go. If you don't want to read it, I can recap it for in a review or something._

Chapter 15

_October 26, 7:30am_

"Okay, Blue Eyes, everything's all—"

"GAH!" Seto hastily wrapped a towel around his waist then glared at the offending girl. "Didn't your mother teach you to knock?"

"Oh please, I have a twin brother, remember? It's nothing I haven't seen before. Besides, you're done with the shower, aren't you?"

"That's not the point." The CEO reached for the cheap toothbrush and even cheaper toothpaste. "Even a _gaijin_ like you can have some manners."

"Because you are such the person to teach me." She folded her arms and tilted her head, watching and not exactly hating the view. "I set it up with my friend, Katie. Her dad's going to help her hack into the computers and she's going to send what we need to my hotmail account."

"Hotmail?" He spit into the sink, rinsed his mouth, then spit again. "Next to Myspace, that's the most insecure network in existence."

"Exactly. Why would they be watching something that huge? Everyone uses hotmail and yahoo and whatever else they've got. There's no way Siegfried and Elsa can watch that many lines and, besides, they have no reason to."

Seto glanced up at her with wary eyes.

"I'm taking an awful risk, Melody. This had better work."

"Now I know you've seen the _Star Wars_ movies."

"I plead the fifth."

"Yeah." She watched him dry off his face and start combing his hair with his fingers. It wasn't the usual slick appearance he liked but then, these weren't ideal conditions. He did have gorgeous eyes though. True, most of the time they were covered in an ice thicker than the surface of Hoth but when he spoke of his brother or the few times he stared off into space while they were in Russia, the frost seemed to melt a little. She could see how so many girls would want to bear his children.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?"

"For letting me see you. Ya know, talking to me, letting me see your scars."

"Hnh. I had no choice. You stripped me down to my boxers when I was unconscious. And as for the talking to you…how do you know I wasn't faking?"

"You feel different."

"Serves me right for asking a telepath. Any weird dreams last night?"

"A Winged Dragon tried to eat me. But seriously, you can be a pretty cool guy. Why don't you let anyone else see that?"

"Because I'm an actor, Melody. You saw me at the party. I knew they all hated me and wanted to use me, and yet I smiled at them and joked with them and acted like nothing was wrong."

"Yeah. It kinda weirded me out."

Seto gave a rueful smile.

"It's how the game is played. And I'm an expert."

Melody bit her lip, thinking, then walked over and carefully wrapped her arms around his waist. Seto started slightly at the first touch.

"Melody…"

"You're not even twenty-years-old and you're doing the job of twelve people by yourself for a company you didn't even want to support a brother you miss even when he's in the room. And your parents…"

She moved her hands up to grip his shoulder blades and buried her face in his neck. He blinked at the feeling of something hot and wet running down his chest.

"Melody…" He felt the sudden urge to hold her and, even though he wasn't sure

whose thought it was originally, he obeyed. It's not like anyone would find out.

"You really are pathetic," he said.

"Shut up, you prick."

Something fwumped to the ground and they both froze.

"What was that?" Melody asked. Seto squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to laugh.

"Don't look down."

"What?! Whaddya mean don't look—Aiee!" She turned away with her hands over her eyes while Seto bust out laughing.

"I thought you said you were fine," he said, retrieving the towel.

"I lied! Holy crap, I can't believe I'm standing in the same room as a naked guy. I'm going straight to Hell for this!"

"Oh, please. It's nothing you haven't seen before, right?"

"Shut up! I've never seen a guy's…umm…"

"You can't even say it. You really are sheltered. Course, you being a…duchess, was it?"

"Um…I'm not really sure. Ada's the youngest prince of Greenwood but Mom doesn't really have a title. She's just a Master. Are you decent yet?"

"Never."

"Blue Eyes!"

"Okay." He straightened back up and Melody reached back to check. Suddenly, Seto started laughing again.

"That's not my leg."

"OH MY GOSH!!"

Seto couldn't help laughing harder, which in turn made her whirl around and beat him, which, of course, made him laugh even harder than that. Ten minutes, and several bruises later, Seto managed to hug Melody from behind and pin her arms. She glared at his reflection in the small, dingy mirror, and he smiled back.

"I hate you," she declared.

"Mmm but you love looking at me."

"Do not!"

"Really. You might want to try lying to someone who hasn't seen your innermost thoughts…" He leaned in a little closer. "…and desires."

"You pervert!" She struggled, but on seeing that it was, indeed, useless, the girl finally let herself laugh. "I like seeing you smile."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Rubbing his forearm, Melody then brought his wrist up to her mouth and kissed one of the longer scars. "Thanks."

Seto smiled again, more gently this time, and the soft expression reflected in his eyes.

"I think you should let me get dressed, Master Jedi."

"Okay. You might even have time for a cold shower, if you hurry."

"Out!"

~~*~~

"ENOUGH!!" Bakura burst into Ryou's soul room and with one sweep of his arm, slammed Ryou and half of his room into the wall. The teenager fell hard on his side.

"I'm just trying to help!"

"Helping would be staying in here and out of the way!" Bakura roared, grabbing Ryou by the throat. "How dare you preach that filth to me!"

"It's not filth," Ryou wheezed. "God exists and He loves you. You know it's true."

"How can you still believe this trash?" Bakura threw him into the other wall. "Haven't I shown you enough?" Stalking over to where he fell, the thief picked Ryou up by his hair. "I rule this world of yours, Ryou Bakura, and God is not here."

Ryou set his jaw, sent up a quick prayer, and swallowed.

"God is everywhere, Bakura. And He didn't just die for the rich people."

"Your friends are, at this very moment, lying in a hospital waiting to die, your father is off on yet another expedition, showing more interest in dead people than his own son, and you are possessed by a demon from Hell. Tell me, Ryou, where is your God in all of that?"

He tugged sharply on the boy's hair and Ryou winced.

"My sister died of meningitis. I didn't. Maybe I survived for you." Ryou stared into Bakura's eyes, searching for recognition, acknowledgement, anything of the boy Ryou saw so few glimpses of in those memories. But Bakura stared back with eyes as cold as ice, his mouth twisted with rage.

"B-Bakura…" Ryou could hear the scratchings and clawings of the other demons just outside his soul room. Shadows clung to Bakura's shoulders, beady little eyes peering down at him.

"Please, say something…"

The thief tightened his grip, his fist twisting. The shadows cackled, pawing at the door, while the little one on his back grinned a nasty, toothy grin.

"Kamau…?"

Bakura blinked rapidly a few times, his brow furrowing in confusion. When he spoke, his voice had lost its telltale growl.

"It is…too late for me…child…"

"No. No, it's not. It's not too late, Bakura. Please."

He blinked again and his eyes flashed back to the tundra.

"Pray all you want, _yadonushi_," he growled. "By the new moon, you'll be meeting your maker in person."

With that, Bakura threw Ryou to the floor and stalked out. The clump of shadows on his back tugged at his shirt and extended a thin claw to Ryou. Bakura just kept walking and slammed the door behind him.

_Kill him! Kill him now!_

_Yes, yes, while you have the chance!_

_The boy is weak. He trusts his god too much._

_He won't last much longer anyway. Put him out of his misery_.

Bakura opened his eyes, Ryou's eyes, and folded his arms across his chest. The Egyptian exhibit of the Domino City Museum stretched before him, the panorama he built last year still standing at the far end. He didn't need any of that now. Soon, he wouldn't need any of this.

_You don't need the child either._

_He preaches too much. Like that Pharaoh._

_Get rid of him. He draws too much attention to you._

_He almost made it the other night._

_Kill him._

_Kill him while you can._

_Kill him!_

_Kill him!_

"No!" Bakura looked down at the circle drawn in silver and chalk on the floor. He could barely see it with the light coming from the other room, but he could feel its power like a tingle on his skin. It didn't matter though. The candles and the vials would be more than enough light for his purposes.

"No," he said again. "The ritual needs fresh blood. I don't want any mistakes this time."

_Weakling._

_We should've known._

_You can't even kill a child anymore._

_Disgusting_.

The thief squeezed his eyes shut.

"Be quiet!"

_You need blood._

_You haven't fed in a while._

_That kid down the street should have some nice powder still._

_He had good prices._

_Or you could just kill him and take it._

_You need to kill something_.

"I told you to shut up!" Bakura clapped his hands over his ears. "Get out of my head!"

"Hello? Hello, is anyone here?"

The white-haired man froze at the new voice and slowly straightened up.

_A woman._

_Isis._

_No, that slut is still in Egypt._

_A new one, then. One of the caretakers._

_And it's been so long_.

"Is anyone down there?"

Bakura flicked his hair out of his face and went over to lean casually on the basement door.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Mr. Bakura." A young maid of about twenty-two motioned to her cleaning cart. "I was just tidying up. Is there something you needed?"

Bakura let his graze travel up and down her body then sauntered forward.

"It _has_ been a long time."

"Sir?"

"We have a little while. I'd like to show you something."

"Um…okay…"

Eight hours later, Bakura stood in Ryou's apartment bathroom mirror, covered in blood, dirt, and sweat.

_Feel better?_

Bakura bit his bottom lip, grinning at his reflection, then smoothed his hair back with a dark chuckle.

"For now."

The police found the body of a young woman under one of the piers, ravaged, gutted, and drained of all her blood. Domino City went on lockdown for an entire week, giving Bakura plenty of time to hide among the hysteria as he added a couple more victims to the list before committing one last, silver-dusted murder. Nobody slept and Ryou soaked his Bible with tears every night.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_November 2_

That week, Seto and Melody were nervous wrecks. Melody couldn't reach anyone but Atemu, probably because of his psionic connection to the Millenium Items, and he told them what happened with that girl, the man, and the two boys.

"He's degenerating," Seto said. "At first, he was just causing accidents."

"So you do believe he caused all that."

"I believe it's a possibility. But he's being more direct now."

"So something set him off." Melody sat down next to him on the bed. "But what? He was already unstable, and Ryou wasn't much better."

"No. But now the times between the crimes are getting shorter and the crimes themselves are more brutal."

"More brutal than being raped and eviscerated?"

"People are capable of incredible things, Melody, both good and bad." Seto leaned forward on his knees and rested his lips on his folded hands. "Any news about Mokuba?"

"No, Blue Eyes, I already told you what I know. They've kept Munchkin under house arrest this whole week and that murder is giving them the excuse they need. Everyone is on edge. Atemu can't hunt for anyone without the cops cutting him off, Mokuba can't get away because they've handcuffed him to one of their goons, and I can't get a hold of the kid because of whatever cloud's still in Domino is protecting the Kaiba Corp building, maybe even Elsa herself."

"You don't have to take that tone with me. I'm worried about my brother."

"Then don't talk to me like I'm incompetent."

He shot her a glare then ran a hand through his hair.

"Could you please repeat what Atemu told you this morning?"

She nodded and took a deep, calming breath before she spoke.

"He's already printed out the files and he'll meet us at the dock when we land. There's a press conference this afternoon about the Kaiba Corp/Schroider Corp/Irmgard merger. I don't know all the details but every major news crew will be there."

"All right."

"Hey." Melody nudged his shoulder. "He's gonna be okay."

"I know." Seto offered a small grin. "I know. He always is."

A sharp knock at the door made them jump.

"Come in," he said. Captain O'Conner, a rough, grizzled man with a scraggly beard, opened the door and nodded curtly.

"The lady's right fond of you two," he said, his Irish brogue thick and comforting. "I've never seen a sky so blue or a sea so calm as when we've been carting the two of you all over creation."

"Thank you for your help, Captain," Melody said brightly. "We'll never forget this."

"No problem at all, lass. You just put me son through the rest of his schoolin'. You'd best be getting' ready. We'll be landin' soon."

"Thank you, Captain." Seto nodded to him and when he was gone, the brunette turned to Melody.

"I'm going to have to thank her one day."

"Who?"

"Ororo."

"What does my history teacher have to do with this?"

She laughed at his exasperated look and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Come on. We have some bad guys to pwn."

They got up to go on deck when Seto paused.

"Melody, do me a favor."

"What?"

"Don't say 'pwn' unless you've played at least twelve hours of a single game. Posers and noobs tend to get beat up for that."

"Aww…" She twirled around to grin coyly at him. "Would you let that happen to me?"

"Ask me again when my life's not your hands."

"Ha ha."

He pushed ahead to lead the way up to the deck, much to her chagrin, and went to lean on the railing.

"By the way," he said, "why didn't you call the…your friends earlier?"

"Because I'm a hero and I knew it would turn out okay."

"Melody."

"All right, fine. I'm a stubborn, old mule and I couldn't stand giving someone else a spot in the limelight."

"That, I'll believe."

"Jerk."

"Dork. Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"I will when you learn some manners."

"You're the one that walked in on me!"

"You had a towel on, you pervert!"

Seto opened his mouth to respond but closed it and turned to stare out at the water. Tokyo broke the horizon before them and she could see the muscles in his jaw tighten.

"Your scent's changing," she said. "You're going back into business-mode."

"You sound disappointed."

Melody rubbed her arms and followed his gaze to the city skyline.

"I just find it interesting how easily you can turn your emotions on and off."

"This is who I am, Tigress. I have to play the defending king now."

"And after?"

He turned those blue eyes back to her and her neck suddenly felt hot.

"We'll see," he whispered. "Are you with me?"

"You know I am."

"Okay. There's Atemu."

She peered through the crowd teeming around the dock to see the slight Egyptian waving to them. She raised an eyebrow at Seto.

"Still have my eyesight, huh?"

"Not quite ready to give it up. Let's go."

The ship docked and a few minutes later, they walked down the ramp with the rest of the crew.

"Kaiba!" Atemu called. He ran forward to clasp Seto's forearms. "It is so good to see you, my friend," he said. "We've been in a dark cloud since news of the crash."

"Atemu, please. Don't be melodramatic. You have the papers?"

"Right here." The Egyptian handed him a folder as they hurried to Atemu's small car parked by a nearby warehouse. "Your Ms. Lebeau sent us everything we need. I'm sorry I couldn't help your brother more. They guard him tighter than they guarded me during my reign."

"It's okay, Temu," Melody said from a couple steps behind. "We know you've done your best."

"Melody, thank the gods. When I heard of the crash, I feared the worst. They never reported your body."

"They probably wouldn't. They thought I was a hired date."

Atemu climbed into the driver's seat, Seto got into the passenger seat, and Melody slid into the back. Seto flipped through the papers as they drove but Melody watched Atemu. The man whose countenance had such a regal air the last time she saw him was now checkered with scrapes. A large, dark bruise covered his left cheek and his bottom lip had been split along the right side.

"Who hit you, Pharaoh?"

Seto looked up and Atemu gingerly rubbed his lips together.

"Schroider's men. When they came to get Mokuba. I….I tried to hide him as best I could but, somehow, they found us. They caught him a week ago then stayed behind to make sure I 'got the point.'"

Seto exchanged a glance with Melody.

"We were right," she said. "She's using him to do her dirty work."

"Atemu," Seto said, "I trust you can identify the men who did this to you and testify in court."

"Absolutely."

"You'll come in with us then. Do you have a phone?"

"Yes, here."

Seto took the phone and handed it to Melody.

"Call the police. I want them to meet me at Kaiba Corp. That press conference should start any minute now."

"Kay. And I'll let the kid know we're on our way. I'm sure he's in need of some good news right now."

"Duh."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Eyes forward, Atemu."

The Pharaoh obediently focused on the road, although he couldn't quite hide the smirk from the uninjured side of his mouth.

"So," he began once Melody was on the phone, "you two seem…different."

"Well, traumatic experiences tend to do that to people."

"Yes, I suppose."

"Don't imply anything, Atemu. Just drive."

"Right."

There was a sharp click in the back seat and Melody handed back the phone.

"I called the cops but I couldn't get a hold of Mokuba. Claire said he'd already left for the press conference."

"Figures," Atemu said somewhat bitterly. "Oh, I managed to find a trench coat for you. It's not as expensive as the ones you usually wear but if you're going to make a dramatic entrance, you'll need something for effect."

He motioned behind them to where a black, woolen trench coat lay folded next to Melody.

"Hnh. Once a Pharaoh, always a Pharaoh."

"It's in our blood."

Seto just gave him a look.

"Drive."

~~*~~

"And so it is my great pleasure to present the woman of the hour, my good friend, Elsa Seiler."

Elsa kissed Siegfried on both cheeks then stepped up to the podium to the applause of the press. She held up her hand and they quieted down.

"Thank you, Mr. von Schroider. When I first heard of Mr. Kaiba's…unfortunate and tragic end, Siegfried and I knew that vultures would fall upon Kaiba Corp before the day was out. We were right, and we arrived just in time to keep the stockholders and a few lesser companies from ripping this illustrious empire apart. We also knew that young Mokuba Kaiba would be in no condition to handle the affairs of the company along with his…brother's death."

The blonde woman bowed her head, a single tear sliding down her cheek. After a moment of collecting herself, she lifted her head again.

"Then certain members of a radical terrorist group kidnapped the boy."

A wave of shock swept through the crowd but she held up her hand again.

"Please, do not be alarmed. The young Kaiba is once again safe and even though the loss of his brother, the stress of his kidnapping, and the fear of these heinous crimes occurring throughout the city weigh heavily on his mind, Mokuba has graciously agreed to say a few words. And I'm sure we are all anxious to know what his next move will be. Mokuba?"

Elsa turned towards him, clapping along with the rest of the crowd, and the guard struck Mokuba sharply in the back. He jerked forward.

"Come, child. Don't be nervous." Elsa motioned to the podium and smiled. He forced a smile back as he approached. It wasn't the crowd that made him nervous. It was the woman's triumphant gaze as she watched him go up to the podium. He wanted so badly to just deck the woman and slam her head into the floor. Instead, he clenched the sides of the podium until his knuckles turned white.

"Thank you, Ms. Seiler," he began. His stomach started to turn. "I…"

He shifted his shoulders, wincing as the fabric of his suit rubbed against his sore back. Siegfried's men had done their work well. None of the bruises showed above his shirt collar.

Mokuba swallowed hard. He could just imagine what else would be in store for him if these bruises were what he got before he even had a chance to mess up.

"Please be patient with him," Siegfried intoned. The crowd laughed and gave him sympathetic smiles. Mokuba took a deep breath.

"I appreciate Ms. Seiler and Mr. von Schroider's efforts and it's true, I have been less than myself since the news of the crash. I also appreciate your patience. I'm sure waking up at the crack of dawn to come listen to a thirteen-year-old stumble through a speech isn't what you signed up for."

A smattering of laughter met his ears and he straightened a little.

"When my brother and I first came to live with our adoptive father, Gozaburo, Kaiba Corp was a military powerhouse. This company made a lot of money and was in a lot of papers. But it didn't help people. Then, when Seto took over, he scrapped everything Gozaburo had perverted with his need for violence and remade the empire from scratch. Kaiba Corp became a company for the people, for the kids. We make games now. We make game systems, toys, artificial intelligence, and holographic technology that most people only see on reruns of _Star Trek._ And now…my brother's gone."

Gone, but not dead. He couldn't believe that.

"This company is all I have left of my brother," he said, his voice shaking slightly. He could feel Siegfried and Elsa's eyes on his back but they couldn't do anything here. Not with everyone watching.

_Here goes nothing_.

"And the man and woman you see behind me plan on taking this company, this manifestation of my brother's passion and imagination, and turning it back into a military supplier. Instead of making kids laugh and giving teenagers something to do besides getting drunk or high, these two—" He half-turned to look them both in the eye and smirk at their indignation. "—want to take our technology and turn it into training programs for the United States and United Nations militaries so those young, impressionable men and women can learn to think of war as a video game instead of a situation where people are fighting and dying for what they believe in."

"Mokuba, that's enough," Elsa said quickly. "You must be tired. I think it's time you went home."

"Oh, thank you, Ms. Seiler, but I haven't felt better in weeks." Mokuba smiled tightly at the woman and grabbed her wrist out of view of the cameras. "I'm almost done; don't worry."

He tightened his grip until she took a couple steps back and the glare she gave him felt like the sudden drop on a mega-rollercoaster, scary as all get out but at the same time really, really cool. He smiled back at the cameras.

"I have been informed by the lovely Ms. Seiler and Mr. von Schroider that if I do not announce the shift of Kaiba Corp's interests and sign over the company to their control, I will regret it." As he spoke, he took off his suit jacket, his tie, and unbuttoned his shirt. The crowd stirred excitedly as he stepped out in front of the podium and pulled his hair over his shoulder.

"My two Austrian friends have very interesting methods of getting their point across. The least of which is beating and whipping a thirteen-year-old boy."

His shirt slipped to the floor and he turned around with his arms outstretched, revealing the bruises and strap marks that covered his back. The press erupted, snapping pictures, yelling questions, and Elsa and Siegfried looked angry enough to kill.

"Kaiba Corporation will remain a gaming company," he told them. "And ya'll can kiss. My. _Ass_."

On the other side of the room, Seto, who had stopped short at the sight of his brother's back, tightened his jaw and stalked forward through the crowd.

"Well said, Mokuba," Seto said. His powerful voice silenced the crowd and Melody and Atemu flanked him as he forced his way to the stage.

"And rest assured, this will never happen again." He raised the folder and turned to the press at the bottom of the stage.

"I have, in my possession, proof that Irmgard Incorporated is broke, Elsa Seiler is guilty of over thirty counts of fraud, and Siegfried von Schroider has been playing her attack dog for the past eighteen months." He stepped up on stage and grabbed Siegfried by the front of his shirt. "You should've known better, Siggy," he growled. "Now I have to pay some thug to rape you in prison. Not that it would take much. Officers!"

Seto casually threw the Austrian off the stage to the small group of policemen that had followed them inside.

"No!" the man screamed. "No, it's for my brother! It's for my brother! Leon! There he is! Look! Leon, tell them! LEON!!"

Seto turned away from the hysterical man and smirked at the woman who started all this.

"Hello, Elsa."

"Seto." The woman smiled, smooth and beautiful and disgusting. "You look well."

"Never felt better. Ms. Solo." He motioned the Jedi forward while still keeping eye contact with Seiler. "You're not on my payroll but would you mind taking out the trash?"

"Not a bit, Mr. Kaiba." Melody smiled brightly at the blonde, grabbed her arm, and yanked her off the stage. Seto ignored them and turned to Mokuba, who stood gaping on the other side of the stage.

"I knew you were alive," the younger one whispered. "I knew it. Nobody believed me but Atemu, but I knew it."

As one, the brothers ran forward into a relieved hug and Seto hit his knees. Around them, the press was a yelping pack of piranhas and the police, who had been called in to arrest Elsa, Siegfried, and their men, now acted as crowd control. The Kaiba brothers ignored them all.

"I'm so sorry, Mokuba. I'm so sorry. This will never happen again. I promise."

"I didn't mean to make a scene but they were going to destroy the company and I couldn't just let them take it and I knew they couldn't hurt me out here where everyone could see and—"

"I know." Seto pulled away enough to brush Mokuba's hair out of his face. "You did good, kid. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"See?" Melody said. "I told ya I would take care of him."

Mokuba looked up to see Melody and Atemu walk up and he jumped up to hug them both.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down," Mokuba said, grinning. "Hey, Temu, you okay?"

"I'm fine, child. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more."

"You guys were great! I still can't believe you guys made it in time!"

"Yeah," Melody said, ruffling his hair. "That was some speech. I think you gave a few of the newsgirls nosebleeds."

"Price of fame, ya know."

Seto picked up Mokuba's shirt and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Next time, keep your clothes on."

"Aw, come on, Seto, it wasn't that bad."

"Melody, remind me. First order of business: fix things. Second order of business: keep my younger brother off the pole."

They others shared a much-needed laugh when a sudden scream rent the air. By the door, Elsa collapsed into seizures, her back arching, her mouth foaming like a rabid dog. Atemu pushed through the press to see what was going on and nearly vomited at the feel of shadows.

"Let us through! Let us through!" Kaiba Land's personal paramedic team arrived within seconds but her seizures worsened, her necklace flying off as she thrashed. Atemu grabbed the necklace, bile rising in his throat, and hurried back to the others.

"I think I know why I couldn't find Bakura." He held up the pendant and Seto and Melody pulled away. He nodded grimly. "It's been shielding him."

"Can you use it to track him?" Melody asked.

"Yes, but we must hurry. This wasn't a stress killing. He's tying up loose ends."

"Go," Seto said, pushing Melody towards the door. "I can handle things here."

"I'm coming too!" The boy cried.

"No, Mokuba."

"Seto, Ryou's my friend. He got me to believe in God again, gave me somebody to talk to. I can't let him fight alone."

Seto looked at his brother for a second then nodded.

"All right, but keep your shirt on this time."

"You got it."

~~*~~

"We can't wait any longer." Bakura ran down the stairs and burst into the Egyptian room. A flick of his hand lit the candles and the room filled with soft, ambient light, punctuated by the deep purple fire of the vials. It was the day of the new moon, not the actual night, but that blasted pharaoh would be here any minute. He should've known better than to trust that disgusting woman. Whores were among the most fickle creatures in the world.

Grabbing his dagger, Bakura stepped into the middle of the circle. The demons in his mind cheered and his skin prickled as the magic of the circle activated.

"One for the father, for the parents that never grew old."

He pointed to that vial and it fell, pouring the thick, purplish black liquid onto the star and down the silver line to the middle.

"One for the sister, for the girl that never turned four."

He pointed again and the vial emptied its contents as well.

"One for the brother, for the man who died saving his family."

_No, Bakura_! Ryou fought to keep him from knocking the vials. _You don't have to do this_!

"One for the friend, for the people who watched their children die."

_There's another way! Let me help you!_

"And one for the lover…"

_The demons won't go away with a new body! It doesn't work like that!_

"…For the woman I will never know."

The liquid pooled at his feet, completely encased in the center of the pentagram, and he raised the knife. The cold metal pricked his chest. Ryou flinched.

_Stop, Bakura. Please_.

"I offer this essence to the Dark Lord as proof of my allegiance and I humbly ask to breathe once again."

The ring around his neck started to glow, casting eerie shadows on his already pale face.

"Give me a body. Let me live again!"

_Noooo!_

Bakura plunged the dagger into his chest. Ryou's blood poured down to his feet and he crumpled to his knees. The purple fluid surged around him then flooded his body. Bakura went into spasms. Ryou screamed in pain. The demons cheered. The ring glowed more brightly than ever.

Suddenly, the shadows hauled Bakura up by his wrists and he hung there, shuddering. The ring flashed once, so bright he saw stars, and he screamed. Ryou's body flew back out of the circle, leaving him. He was dimly aware of the boy hitting the floor but the light from the ring enveloped him and he knew nothing else. A scream escaped his throat, a horrible, keening noise from the thousands of white-hot blades that pierced his body.

_Yes yes yes!_ The demons chanted. _Good boy, good boy! No more weaklings for us!_

The light vanished and Bakura fell to the floor. For a second, nothing happened. Then Bakura gasped and started coughing, inhaling his first true breath of air in three thousand years. The thief laughed weakly into the cement.

"Yes! I did it! I did it."

"Good. Now, you can go to prison in your own body."

Bakura raised an eyebrow at the new voice and chuckled when Atemu walked in with that Solo girl and the Kaiba brat in tow.

"You're too late, Pharaoh," Bakura spat. "I am reborn and this time, you will not stop me. I. Am. Invincible. AAH!"

He lurched, the sharp sting of a whip lashing his back. Then again and again and again. Atemu watched with a drawn expression.

"What's happening?" Melody asked.

"He wanted a body," Atemu replied. "The gods gave him his own. Complete with every scar and wound from his life in Egypt."

"Mel!" Mokuba ran over to where Ryou lay in his own blood and the other two hurried to join him.

"The wound is deep," Atemu said, his eyes darkening. Melody shoved him aside and pressed a strip of her shirt to Ryou's chest. The white-haired teen jerked, blinking hazily at them.

"Wha—Atemu? Mokuba? How did—"

"Hush. Don't talk." Melody reached out and slowed the blood flow but the ritual wasn't exactly sacrifice friendly. Bakura had taken at least half of it.

"We need to get him to a hospital," she said, glancing up to Atemu.

"Way ahead of ya." Mokuba clicked his cell phone closed and shoved it back in his pocket. "What about Bakura?"

"Yes, Pharaoh, what about me?"

They looked back to where Bakura stood in the middle of the circle. He was taller, more built, than his former host with a dark tan and short, shaggy white hair. A three-pronged cut stretched down his right cheek and blood from the whiplashes on his back snaked down his arms and legs.

"Get up, Atemu. Let's see how you stand up to me now."

"Fine." Atemu got to his feet, his hands already moving into a summoning sign, but a small tug at his pants made him pause. He looked down to see Ryou struggling to sit up.

"Rest now, child. I'll take care of this."

"No." Ryou closed his eyes then gripped Melody's hand. "Help me up."

They hesitated.

"Help me up!"

Melody and Mokuba helped Ryou to his feet. He stood, swayed, then took a couple steps forward.

"You!" Bakura clenched his fists at his side. "You should be dead!"

"You missed my heart. Guess you've gotten soft."

"I have not, you little cretin! Come here!"

Pressing the fabric to his chest, Ryou held up his cross with the other hand and Bakura bounced back as if he'd hit a brick wall.

"Put that disgusting thing away!"

"_Our Lord who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…_"

"Shut up! Shut up; didn't I beat you enough before?!"

"_Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven…_Surround him."

Something in Ryou's soft voice caught their attention and the other three moved to stand on the edges of the circle as Ryou slowly advanced. Bakura kept backing up, shadows clawing and snarling at his feet.

"No!" he yelled. "Keep that filth away from me!"

"The three of you start praying."

"Stop it, Ryou!" Bakura hit his knees, his hands over his ears. "I don't deserve this!"

"You don't deserve a lot of things, Bakura. Like those demons."

_Demons!_ Melody could've smacked herself. That's why he felt so wrong. _Duh_. She ran through all the different Valar in her head, trying to remember the different prayers her father taught them. Who do you beseech for a possession?

Abruptly, the thief lunged forward on his hands and knees, casting about like an animal scenting a kill. Ryou lowered the cross so it stayed at Bakura's eye level and the darker man glared with red, wild eyes.

"You won't win," the thief growled. "God is dead. You can't save this one."

"I can and I will! You're the only family I've got left! Look at me, Kamau!"

Bakura's eyes cleared for a second as Ryou kept talking.

"You have to hang in there, okay? You have to fight them!"

The demons railed. Bakura screamed.

"They're tearing him up," Atemu said. "They'll kill him before they'll release him."

"Shut up, Yami!" Ryou snapped. "You're always going on about saving the weak and nothing's too hard if we stick together, so you better bloody stick together! Pray harder!"

The group did as they were told, Melody finally remembering an elvish chant to Elbereth, and Bakura shrieked, his back arching. His eyes went red again.

"That won't work, boy!" he spat. They could hear other voices underneath his. "He's ours! We've owned him for over three thousand years!"

"Time to give him back then!" Ryou put his hands together and prayed as hard as he could. Bakura flinched away, snarling. He dove towards Melody and Mokuba but flinched from them too. Atemu stood behind, praying in Egyptian. Bakura paused for a second, then started laughing as he slowly backed up and turned to crawl out of the circle. Atemu got louder but Bakura kept coming.

_Why isn't this working?_

Bakura crawled faster.

"Gods of stone and wheat can't stop us, sand rat. Time to die!" He lunged. Atemu held up his Eye of Ra pendant but Ryou shoved him away and grabbed Bakura's face. The thief howled. The scent of burning flesh filled the air.

"Hold him!"

Bakura writhed even as Melody and Atemu clamped onto his arms. Mokuba wrapped his arms around his thighs. Ryou stood above him.

"You're out of the circle now; no more demonic seals. In Jesus' name, get out of him!"

Bakura laughed again.

"Do you really think he's worth saving?"

"Let him go!"

The demons started speaking Latin then German then the harsh, gravely language of Hell itself, insulting them all, damning them to the Devil's private playground.

"Kamau!"

His eyes turned back to brown and when he spoke, his soft, exhausted tone hardly matched the unearthly tension of his body.

"Ryou…stop…"

"Y-you know I won't." Ryou couldn't stop the tears now. "I've fought so hard…I've seen your life. I know what you went through. I can help you!"

"Please…please just let me go." Bakura gasped, doubling over. "It hurts, Ryou. It hurts so much…"

Ryou placed his hands more firmly on the sides of Bakura's face.

_Lord, help me_. He took a deep breath.

"In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost—"

Bakura's eyes went red. He screamed and thrashed, swearing and nearly throwing off the other three. But Ryou knew what to do now.

"I bind you seven demons of Pride…"

_The thief rode in, cackling, with the Pharaoh's body tied to the back of his horse and the Pharaoh's gold around his neck._

"Wrath…"

_He snapped, ripped possession from his host, and beat the timid Greek woman into the ground. When his host woke up, he committed suicide._

"Greed…"

_The young woman cackled with Bakura's voice, rolling in the gold even as the wet scent of dead blood seeped into her clothes and hair._

"Fear…"

_He woke in a cold sweat and tore out onto the street, eyes and fangs assaulting him at every turn._

"Guilt…"

_A cry of pain rent the old man's mind, doubling him over, as Bakura beat the walls of his soul room with tears running down his face._

"Lust…"

_Moans filled the air but he couldn't tell who was who anymore. His host struggled in her soul room, crying out to God for forgiveness, and he laughed._

"And Jealousy…"

_Red eyes watched the couple climb into the carriage. His mouth curled with bitterness and he cut them off at the pass. He killed the toddler last._

"And I cast you out."

They screamed, eight voices spilling out of Bakura's mouth.

"In Jesus' name, get out! Give me back my brother!"

Melody jerked, the shrieks piercing her mind. _No_, they screamed, _let us go_. She tightened her grip and clenched her teeth, mentally yelling the chant every Elvish child knew from the cradle.

Mokuba cried out in pain, phantom teeth and talons yanking his hair, pulling his clothes. The boy swung around violently.

"Don't let go, kid!" Melody ordered. The teen slapped at his arm. "Munchkin!"

He latched back onto Bakura's legs and prayed harder, begging God just to do something. Next to him, Atemu's voice grew weak as he saw Diabound, the half-man/half-snake abomination that was Bakura's soul monster. His eyes widened as the creature slithered around the circle, hissing, chattering, snarling. He shut his eyes tight.

"Give him back!" Ryou yelled. The room filled with screams, the air thick and heavy in their chests. Bakura cried out. The air choked their throats, then with one last heave, he collapsed. The pressure vanished and Ryou crumbled to the floor.

"Is it over?" Mokuba whispered. Scratches covered his arms, face, and neck. Meldoy leaned over to check the wounds, her own arms covered in red lines that were already disappearing.

"Yes, Munchkin. It's over." Satisfied that no permanent damage had been done, she straightened up and shakily rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I've never felt such strength before. It was all I could do to keep him out of my head."

Atemu nodded as he knelt down next to the two white-haired figures.

"I was the weak spot," he muttered. "My prayers didn't work."

"What?" Mokuba asked, rubbing his arms.

"Nothing." He looked up at the sound of the ambulance. "Come. They need medical attention."

"Is it safe to have Bakura in the same room as the kid?" Melody asked.

"Yes." The Pharaoh put a hand on Bakura's shoulder. "He sought to break us to fight his own pain, flee his own demons, but now that those demons are gone, he must deal with his pain himself. I do not think Bakura will hurt anyone else. He just needs time to grieve." He paused. "But, just in case, I will keep an extra close eye on him. He was a victim, yes, but not an innocent."

Atemu rode with the two white-haired men to the hospital while Melody and Mokuba headed back to Kaiba Corp. Seto met them in the lobby, looking a unique state of frazzled that only dealing with the press can create.

"We made it," Mokuba said, glomping him around the waist. "They're on the way to the hospital right now."

"Yeah, Atemu was a little shaken up but…I think they'll be okay." Melody gently stroked Mokuba's hair and he grinned like a spoiled kitten. "You okay, Blue Eyes?"

"If by 'okay' you mean dreading the impending legal battles and press conferences and explaining why my brother ended up stripping on international television, then yes. I'm okay."

"I had my pants on!"

"And if I hadn't shown up?"

Mokuba just laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, to which Seto rolled his eyes.

"Do you need a ride home, Melody?"

"No, but I'll take a ride to your house."

"What?"

"It's movie night. I did win the bet after all."

"I thought you wanted mainframe access and a ride to school every day."

She smiled.

"I'll settle for dinner with you guys and some movie time."

Mokuba stared wide-eyed from Seto to Melody then back to Seto.

"Please, brother?" he whined.

"Please, Blue Eyes?" Melody mimicked. Seto heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"As if I didn't have enough to do."


	17. Chapter 17

_FINALLY!!! Eight years and hundreds of thrown out scenes later, this story is DONE!!!! -happy dance-_

Epilogue

_November 24, 6:50pm_

"Blue Eyes, hurry up! The gang'll be here any minute!" Melody threw a couple more fake maple leaves on the dining room table then ran back into the kitchen. Seto walked in bearing a large paper bag which Melody promptly ripped out of his hands and started going through.

"Did you get everything? Oh good, you found the whip cream. Awesome!"

"How did I let you talk me into this?"

"Must be my gorgeous body and incredible charm." She handed him a bowl of mashed potatoes to take to the table and shoved him towards the dining room.

"Schyeah," he scoffed. "And I'm Christian Bale."

"No, you're not cute enough for that."

"I'm hoooome!" Mokuba tore through the house, his backpack sliding off his shoulder and a paper turkey in his hand. "Am I late?"

"Right on time, Munchkin. Help your brother take the rest of this food out. I gotta take up the pies."

"Okay. Smell's delicious."

"Smell's like antiseptic and dry rot."

"Shut up, Blue Eyes."

Within minutes, Granpa Moto, Yugi, Tea, Joey, Mai, Tristan, his sister, Theresa and her family, and Atemu had arrived. Soon they, along with Seto, Melody, and Mokuba, were seated at the table with Taishou lingering in the background.

"Thanks for coming everybody," Melody began. "And I know Thanksgiving is technically an American holiday but after the semester we've had, I thought it would be a good idea."

"Here here," Yugi said, raising his glass.

"Yup yup. So it's a tradition for us in New York to go around the table and say what we're thankful for so…I'll start." Melody glanced up at the ceiling in thought. "I'm thankful we're not in Russia anymore, and I'm thankful I was able to help you guys and…just…thanks. For letting me into your lives. It means a lot."

She smiled at them all then touched Yugi's arm.

"Your turn."

"Okay, well, I'm thankful for all of us actually being here. And I'm thankful that Ryou and Bakura have healed and made it to England safely."

"So they did move back," Theresa said. Yugi nodded.

"Ryou's dad was real big in the academic community there and Ryou was able to find a psychiatrist there that specializes in recovering addicts."

The "Ryou-dealing-with-an-addict-brother" story was a bit easier to swallow for non-magic-friendly people than the idea of demon possession and cursed jewelry. And technically it was true. Sex, violence, and death are their own narcotics.

"So yeah, I'm thankful we're all gonna be okay," Yugi concluded. "Your turn, Tea."

And so they went around the table, most of them thankful for their health and for the end of the dangerous time they lived through. Melody watched them as they spoke, committing them to her writer's memory.

Yugi looked good, considering he had worn himself out going back and forth between all the hospital beds. To his right, Tea sat with her left wrist in a cast and a fading scar on her forehead. Yugi checked on her everyday, not letting her do much on her own yet. In the next seat was Joey, who was still weak but his chest had healed and now he boasted the scar as a war wound. Mai sat next to him dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and baggy jeans with her arm over her stomach. She didn't smile much, which worried Melody, but the blonde had been staying with Joey since they got out of the hospital and her scent had started to even out. It would take a long time for her to heal, if she ever healed completely, but Joey was a good guy. He'd do whatever he could. They all would.

Across the table sat Tristan, Theresa, her husband, and her son. It was the first time Theresa had been out of the house and she still needed a cane. It would be an early night for her, no doubt, but she seemed to be having a good time. Next to them sat Granpa Moto, a calm and quirky constant for them that supported his injured kids long after they were ready to just quit. Mokuba sat next to him, a bubbling fount of energy. The bruises and whiplashes had faded, not even leaving a scar.

"Well," the boy said. "I'm thankful I haven't been mobbed by fangirls all week and I've tried writing some more poems lately and I think I'm getting pretty good at it."

"I'd love to read some," Tea said. "If you don't mind."

"Well, I don't know how good they are yet but…maybe. Okay, your turn, Seto."

Seto gave him a very flat look.

"I'm thankful this is over so we can eat."

The whole table groaned in good-natured protest but didn't object to the order and soon they were enjoying their hearty meal with something akin to their old vigor.

"Don't be such a scrooge," Melody whispered.

"Wrong season."

"You know what I mean."

He just grinned and filled his plate. He had finally read that letter Taishou refused to burn and the prognosis for her brother looked pretty hopeful. On top of that, he'd hired an entire new board of directors, complete with anally thorough background checks. It would take him a while to get used to not doing everything himself though. Melody did not envy that poor secretary one bit.

Still, she did count one good thing from all of this. He had kept his word and the three of them, Seto, Melody, and Mokuba, all did dinner-and-a-movie every Tuesday and Thursday. A lot of different topics had come up at the dinner table, along with a revealing choice of movies, but Melody wouldn't trade a single minute. Those nights, she wasn't a Jedi or a Princess, Mokuba wasn't the press-hounded vice-president of a major company, and Seto wasn't an overworked, overstressed CEO/gaming celebrity. They were just kids having fun. Melody hadn't felt that safe, that relaxed, in a long time.

"Where will you go?" Seto asked.

Melody blinked.

"What?"

"Where will you go after we graduate?"

"Actually…I think I'm going back to New York. Once the semester's over."

Seto paused briefly in his chewing. Melody noticed but the others probably didn't.

"Back to Logan and Ororo?" he asked.

"Yes. I left some…loose ends back there. I need to go fix things."

"What are you two whispering about?" Mokuba asked in a stage whisper. Melody smiled at the boy and stood up.

"Come with me, Munchkin. Blue Eyes. I have something for you."

"Ooh, a present. We'll be right back, guys." Mokuba followed Seto and Melody into the living room where Melody dug around in her school bag. After a few seconds, she pulled out a certain black notebook with a drawing of a werewolf on the cover.

"Cool picture," Mokuba said. Melody hugged it to her chest and walked back over.

"This is my story notebook. I've got all my best ideas in here and…my friend Katelan drew the picture."

She lowered the notebook and rubbed her lips together.

"Could you guys keep this for me for a while?"

Seto looked as if he hadn't heard correctly.

"You want us to keep…this. You almost died trying to get this back."

"I wouldn't have died, Blue Eyes. I heal from everything short of having my head chopped off. Will you guys keep it till I get back?"

"Mel…" Mokuba's gentle voice made her look down. "What happened to your friend?"

She gave a rueful smile.

"She died." She held out the notebook. Mokuba glanced at his brother, who nodded, and the youngest Kaiba gingerly took the notebook from her.

"Thanks, Mel," he said, giving her a hug. "You made my brother laugh and that hasn't happened in a really long time. We'll take good care of this."

"Hey, where'd you guys go?" Joey called. "We're about to have dessert!"

"Coming!" Mokuba smiled warmly at the girl and gave her another hug before heading back towards the dining room. Melody saw him drop the notebook off in the top drawer of a nearby desk and she grinned.

"Doesn't want to get food on it," Seto said.

"Yeah, he's a good kid. Thanks for letting them come over."

"Don't mention it. Ever."

"Right. Well…guess we better get back." She hesitated a moment but when nothing happened, she started heading back to the dining room.

"Melody."

"Yes?" She spun quickly, just in time to catch a small tiger-eye pendant on a thin golden chain.

"For your knighthood ceremony," he explained. "It should be small enough you can hide it under your robes."

Beaming, Melody made to put the necklace on but her nails slipped on the catch a full four times before Seto took pity on her and did it himself.

"There."

"Thanks. It's beautiful."

"Don't."

She grinned.

"Kay. No mushy stuff." Melody walked with Seto back to the others, their fingertips almost touching.

"'Bout time you guys got back!" Tristan waved them over to the table. "We were about to start without you. Yugi found the karaoke set!"

Seto stopped and nailed Melody with a look that sent her into a fit of nervous giggles.

"Well, at least they don't have guns."


End file.
